Building Climate Resilience in Irish Forestry: A Review of Challenges and Strategies for Climate Adaptation

Irish forestry faces a convergence of ecological, policy, and legacy challenges that threaten its long-term sustainability and climate resilience. Historically shaped by afforestation policies favouring marginal land and dominated by a narrow range of fast-growing conifers, particularly Sitka spruce, the forest estate is highly vulnerable to windthrow, pest outbreaks, and emissions from peat-based soils. This review synthesises current evidence on abiotic and biotic stressors, including the implications of climate change, and evaluates a range of adaptive strategies to enhance resilience. These include species diversification, alternative silvicultural systems such as Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF), improved genetic material, Forest Assisted Migration (FAM) and the strategic use of harvested wood products in carbon reporting. The review also explores barriers to implementation, including fragmented governance, administrative frictions, and limited data on long-term forest performance. A landscape-level, pre-zoned approach is proposed to better match forest types to land suitability, improve ecosystem service provision, and streamline licensing systems. Supporting measures such as coordinated deer management, investment in long-term research infrastructure, and greater public sector involvement are
highlighted as enablers of transformation. Ultimately, a shift toward a multifunctional, climate-resilient forest estate will require integrated planning, targeted financial incentives, and sustained collaboration across forestry, agriculture, biodiversity, and governance sectors.