“As part of its new Climate Action Plan, the (Irish) Government has pledged to double the rate of forestry planting here but farmers are still reluctant to plant good farmland despite the generous grants and tax-free payments and the fact that forestry is often far more profitable that existing farm enterprises.”
Ear to the Ground, RTE, 12 Dec, 2019
The Irish Ear to the Ground programme this week (Thursday 12 December 2019 – go to 16 minutes on the RTE Player, available until 11 January) interviewed Pro Silva Ireland members John Sherlock, Kevin O’Connell and others who demonstrated the benefits of forestry on John’s farm forestry land near Navan, County Meath.
John’s family business includes farm forestry managed under a continuous cover system. He also talked about adding value and the importance of aiming towards saw log rather than just firewood for hardwoods.
John’s Teagasc advisor, committee member of Pro Silva Ireland, Kevin O’Connell, also discussed the multiple benefits of forestry.
Kevin spoke that “Our industry here, we have to balance it. We need a forestry industry to keep our mills going to provide employment in rural areas but also we need a balance with native woodlands, biodiversity, eco-services. There is a balance to be got. We needn’t go to one extreme of the other. We can come up with a system with both working in harmony for the want of a better world”.
