The potential availability of land for afforestation in the Republic of Ireland

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2 years ago

Irish Forestry 2015, Vol. 72

An analysis of land resources to assess “the potential availability of land for afforestation in the Republic of Ireland” was performed in 2013 with the aim of providing an understanding of the potential land resources that could potentially be available for forestry to achieve government afforestation targets (see attached paper Farrelly and Gallagher 2016)

Peer reviewed paper in pdf format, land availability forestry 2013 supporting document and map output in GIS gridded data format (ESRI grid).

Note: some of the input data used in this analysis is already in the public domain and available on line (through Teagasc and NPWS map portals) and some of the data is not, as it has been made available from OSI under national mapping agreement and other data agreements with Forest Service

A note on the potential availability of land for afforestation in the Republic of Ireland

The analysis was based on developed spatial analysis techniques involving a range of datasets representative of landuse in Ireland, which were available from a range of National mapping agencies under licence agreement (e.g. Ordnance Survey Ireland, Navtech, etc.) in Table 1, Farrelly and Gallagher (2016). Some of the inputs utilised in the analysis are in the public domain and available on line (soils, sub-soils, landcover, etc.) at http://gis.teagasc.ie/soils/map.php and some of them, are subject to specific request for national responsible agencies (e.g. Forest Service, DAFM).

The data utilised for the analysis represented the best source of data available for the study at the time of preparation in 2012. Some data are subject to limitations of scale, with scales varying from 1:50,000 to 1: 500,000, the latter for published soil maps. Some of the input datasets used are time and date specific, being representative of agricultural land use and soil survey from the mid to late 1900’s https://www.teagasc.ie/environment/soil/soil-maps/ The landcover and habitat maps utilised are based on landsat data taken in 1995, these are perhaps obsolete and are being superseded by new maps (e.g. OSI prime II, see https://webapps.geohive.ie/mapviewer/index.html which may be subject to continuous updating and revision.

Additional data some of which was not used in the original study is available which may have potential to modify some of the results of the 2013 study. Additional forests have been planted, new environmental designations, county development plans, etc. would all have implications to land availability for forestry.

The spatial analysis performed in this study was intended to be utilised for tabular reporting and not for the production of map based data and the resulting raster dataset G&R_LA2013 is presented at 1 x 1km in ESRI^TM grid format and categories are described below.

The use of such maps at finer scales can cause misunderstanding and misrepresent the level of accuracy and detail of mapping of input datasets and are not suitable for use at a field or site level.

The interpretations derived from this map does imply suitability for afforestation, and does not eliminate the need for due process in the application for afforestation which are subject to DAFM guidelines and which are administered on a case by case basis subject to onsite sampling, testing, and detailed study of habitats, guidelines commensurate with Forest Service procedures for afforestation grant aid. Users are responsible for the appropriate application of this map.

Attribute fields

Raster Value	DESCRIPTION
1	Utilised land
2	Unsuitable land
3	Protected land
4	Land most likely to have potential for forestry
41*	Land suitable for productive agriculture^ab
42*	Land marginal for economic agricultural production^ab
412*	As 41, but is fishery sensitive^b
413*	As 42, but is fishery sensitive^b

^bProductive and marginal are defined by Gardiner and Radford – soil associations and their land use potential, An Foras Taluntais, Dublin.

^bc Application of appropriate screening of forestry applications in fishery sensitive areas may be subject locally applicable

* Application for afforestation licenses is administered on a case by case basis subject to onsite sampling, testing, and detailed study of habitats and other appropriate assessments and guidelines commensurate with Forest Service procedures for afforestation grant aid.

Extracts