The updated Forestry Opportunities Map provides high-level national guidance on land suitability for afforestation, supporting the establishment of forests for various purposes, including timber production, environmental enhancement, climate change mitigation, forest industry development, alternative off-farm income generation, and opportunities for tourism and recreational use.
The Forestry Opportunities Map opportunities map identifies opportunities for additional forest planting in Ireland, as well as areas where new planting would be unsuitable for various reasons.
The map aims to guide and promote sustainable forest development and is consistent with the Government’s recently published Forest Strategy for the sector.
The Forestry Opportunities Map complements the information presented in the strategy and can be used to plan for “the right trees in the right places for the right reasons”.
The spatial layers used in compiling the Forestry Opportunities Category Map are available to Registered Foresters via DAFM’s online licence application system, iNET
AIE request to DAFM FS 8/1/25
Under the AIE Regs to request in shp file or similar GIS open data format the mapping provided in the following report:
Forestry Opportunities Map “The right trees in the right places for the right reasons”Dec 2024Published by: Forestry Division, Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine. Johnstown Castle Estate
The shp files are listed in the report as follows
Component Map Layers of the Opportunities Map include
- NPWS Designated Sites: Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), National Heritage Areas (NHAs), Proposed NHAs, Special Protection Areas (SPAs), and National Parks.
- Water Bodies: Streams, lakes, and reservoirs (sourced from the EPA landcover map).
- Existing landcover including urban areas and waterbodies: From the EPA landcover map.
- High Nature Value Farmland: Identified by Teagasc.
- Source Protection Areas and Drinking Water Abstraction Points: Mapped by the Geological Survey Ireland (GSI).
- High-Status Objective Waterbodies: Data from the EPA.
- Freshwater Pearl Mussel Catchments: Data provided by the NPWS
- Potentially Fisheries-Sensitive Areas: Compiled in consultation with the Inland Fisheries (see Forestry Scheme Manual, July 2024).
- Potentially Acid-Sensitive Areas (see Forestry Scheme Manual, July 2024).
- Areas with bird species of high conservation importance: Spatial data compiled from the NPWS and BirdWatch Ireland.
- National Monuments / Architectural Heritage: Data from the National Monument Service.
- Soils data: Provided by Teagasc
- Forest Productivity Map: Developed by Teagasc.
- Existing Forest Cover: Information from DAFM and Coillte.
For the purposes of this AIE, where the shp files referenced in the report are already in the public domain via gov.ie or similar, please note this in responses
The report notes that “The spatial layers used in compiling the Forestry Opportunities Category Map are available to Registered Foresters via DAFM’s online licence application system, iNET”Open access to iNET under the Open Data Directive may meet the DAFMs obligations to release environmental data in an open data format, eg API and/or bulk upload facilityRTK have no access to iNET so are unable to determine if iNET meets any of the requirements of open data. As part of this AIE, please note the access requirements for iNET
