West Tyrone has seen roughly one million more trees cut down than planted over the past five years, according to figures released by Stormont's agriculture and environment department.

Data provided by DAERA Minister Andrew Muir shows an estimated 1.4 million trees were harvested or manually managed since 2021, while only 500,000 new trees were planted during the same period. In total, 1,129 hectares of land saw tree felling, compared to 201 hectares of new woodland.

The minister revealed the figures in response to a written question from SDLP MLA for West Tyrone Daniel McCrossan.

McCrossan expressed concern that almost three times as many trees had been felled as planted. He stated that while he supports sustainable forest management, the medium-term goal should be to balance felling with planting, which is not happening currently.

Muir explained that tree planting is supported through department grant schemes administered by the Forest Service. He added that felling licences are issued to third parties for approved plans, allowing felling within five years. The number of trees per hectare varies from 1,800 to 2,500.