Iveragh Woodlands

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Iveragh Woodlands Project

The Iveragh Woodlands European Innovation Partnership (EIP) aims to enhance the ecological and socioeconomic resilience of upland farms in the west of Ireland through active conservation, restoration and sustainable management of native woodlands.

The Iveragh Woodlands team will work to find opportunities to restore woodlands in the uplands of the Iveragh Peninsula by addressing a gap in policy in regard to their creation, with successful models being integrated into wider agri-environmental programmes. They will also find opportunities for payments to farmers and landowners for their participation.

Expression of Interest form for Farmers and landowners

Why Woodlands Matter

Native woodlands in the Iveragh uplands are rare remnants of Ireland’s ancient forests. They play a vital role in:

Protecting soil and water: stabilising slopes and reducing flood risk.
Sheltering livestock: improving animal welfare in exposed uplands.
Storing carbon: supporting Ireland’s climate goals.
Supporting biodiversity: home to birds, invertebrates, ferns, mosses, and lichens.
Preserving culture: trees have deep roots in the stories and traditions of Kerry’s people.

However, pressures from overgrazing, invasive species, and policy barriers have left many woodlands in decline. The Iveragh Woodlands project aims to reverse this trend by combining local knowledge with modern ecological practice.

Why Iveragh’s Woodlands are so unique

The Iveragh peninsula is situated within the temperate rainforest zone, providing optimal conditions for many oceanic and hyper-oceanic temperate rainforest species unique to western Europe. The peninsula also holds a large percentage of Ireland’s remaining Annex I oak woodlands. Overgrazed and highly fragmented, these woodland fragments provide a refugia for many rare woodland species and wild tree genetics.

How the Project Works

There will be an open call for landowners to express interest. Each participating farmer co-develops a farm woodland plan with ecologists and advisors. Actions are practical, low-impact, and tailored to each farm.

Core Actions:

Protect & Restore existing native woodlands.
Encourage Natural Regeneration in suitable areas.
Manage Grazing & Deer Pressure through collaborative plans.
Control Invasive Species such as rhododendron.
Enhance Biodiversity using local seed sources for enrichment planting.
Build Skills & Capacity through training and community workshops.

Restoration Strategies
The project will prioritise natural regeneration wherever possible. Where seed sources are available, nature will do the work. Where seed sources are absent or degraded, judicious planting will occur using local provenance stock grown in collaboration with nurseries across Iveragh.

The project will also experiment with returning woodland flora and fungi, as well as rare or lost species such as aspen and juniper. Enrichment planting will focus on restoring full ecological function, not just tree cover.

Wild Herbivore Strategy
Over-abundant deer threaten woodland recovery. The project introduces a community-led, science-based deer management programme including:

Camera-trap surveys and population tracking
Training for licensed hunters
Check-in stations for data and sample collection
Safe, humane and coordinated culling practices

Farmer Participation and Payments

The project provides financial incentives and practical support to participating landowners. A results-based methodology will be developed or adapted to assess the health and trajectory of woodland recovery, including indicators such as regeneration, species composition, and invasive control.

Payment Type Description Rate / Amount

Initiation Payment Once-off joining payment to develop a farm plan. €166/ha (avg. €2,490 per farm)

Results-Based Payment Annual reward based on woodland health and regeneration. ~€200/ha per year

Action-Based Payment Additional payment for approved restoration actions. €200/ha

Capital Support Materials and labour for fencing, planting, signage. Allocated per plan

Payments are designed to stack with ACRES CP, NWS, NWCS, or Agroforestry, ensuring no loss of existing scheme income.

If you are interested in participating in this project, please fill out the expression of interest form here.

Community, Culture, and the Future

The Iveragh Woodlands EIP is about more than trees, it’s about people, place, and pride in the landscape.

Community Activities:

Guided walks, farm visits, and local events
Storytelling and ‘deep mapping’ of woodland heritage
Local seed collection and nursery development
Exploration of economic opportunities (wild game, wood fuel, eco-tourism)

Project Outcomes:

300 ha of upland woodland improved or restored
Increased farm income and resilience
Enhanced biodiversity and ecosystem services

News and Events:

As we near the end of the year, our Iveragh Woodlands team look back on the first couple of months of this 4 year project. It has been a busy time with the project getting off the ground and many strands being pulled at once. It has been heartening to see the project launched with the Expression of Interest Form for farmers and landowners going live with a local press release.
Over the past couple of months the team have laid the foundations for an ambitious and exciting project. One of the tasks undertaken was the collection of local provenance, Kerry seed from native trees. The seed collection mainly took place at Hometree’s Oulagh site and in Killarney National Park. Many thanks to NPWS for their guidance with this. The team, along with nursery staff down from Ennistymon collected birch, oak, yew, spindle, hawthorn, hazel, crab-apple, alder, arbutus and Scots pine. This seed will be grown in our Ennistymon nursery with a view to planting the trees in some of the sites on the Iveragh Peninsula where deemed appropriate in the coming years. A good variety of species were collected, bearing in mind the wide project area and the possibility of certain sites being suited to some species and not others.
Another important step in this project was the convening of our first Operational Group meeting in Killarney. This group is made up of representatives from our partners in this project as well as farming representatives from the project area. The meeting was a great opportunity for everyone to gain a better insight into the project and how it will look on the ground. Important connections were made, and will be drawn upon again as the project progresses.
As of early December, a press release about the project was issued to local media and the Expression of Interest form went live. The press release will raise public awareness of the Iveragh Woodlands project and we hope to see prospective participants filling out the EOI over the next few weeks. It is our hope that we will begin the selection process early in 2026 based on the responses to the EOI.