Galway Bay fm newsroom - Almost 280 hectares of new forest land were established in Galway last year.
Figures released by the Department of Agriculture show there are now 1512 individually owned forests in Galway - covering 16,500 hectares of land.
According to the report, total afforestation in Galway last year accounted for 279 hectares of land.
Afforestation refers to the establishment of a ‘conventional’ forest with the main objective of producing commercial timber.
The new forests were established solely on private land - with 16 set-up by farmers and 17 by non-farmers.
Grants are available to cover the costs associated with afforestation and are payable following the completion of planting.
3,705 euro per hectare is the maximum grant available for the planting of Sitka spruce, which is the most commonly planted tree nationwide.
In 2019, 89 million euro was spent by the Department of Agriculture on forest activities including afforestation.
