A socio-economic exploration of landholder motivations to participate in afforestation programs in the Republic of Ireland: The role of irreversibility, inheritance and bequest value

Abstract

Forest policy in Ireland has focused on the expansion of forest cover on private lands. Despite financial support to incentivize farmers to afforest agricultural land and the high returns of farm forestry relative to the agricultural alternatives, the rate of annual afforestation is falling well below targets. This paper presents results from a survey of farmers that examined the differences between the characteristics and attitudes of farmers that have planted trees and those that have not, with interest in the role of bequest value among other socio-economic determinants. We explore two decisions (a) the decision to enter forestry and (b) how much land is planted. The results show that while farmers consider a broad range of factors along with the expected economic returns in deciding whether to afforest land, the irreversibility of the planting decision and a desire to bequeath to descendants a property consisting of agricultural enterprises plays a significant role in the investment decision. Incentives for afforestation have underperformed in Ireland as they largely focus on the provision of economic benefits. Our results suggest demographic factors including those relating to inheritance and bequests are significant factors influencing afforestation decisions. Future incentive policies may be more effective in achieving increased afforestation, if policy makers can better target policies in order to address issues around farm inheritance, specifically the perceptions of irreversibility and intergenerational burden of land use change to forestry.