Forest Road Funding Needed - Farming | farming news | cattle prices | ifa

Forest Road Funding Needed

Written by Cian MacSweeny
Saturday, 19 July 2008
Pat Hennessy, IFA Farm Forestry Chairman, has called for additional funding "...to be made available to the Forest Road Grant Scheme for the remainder of 2008 and into the future." “With over 40,000 hectares of farm forestry approaching first thinning a budget of €9 million per annum for all forestry support schemes is not sufficient. He stressed that “stopping the Forest Road Grant scheme does not just impact on farmers trying to thin their plantations but also impacts on the timber processing sector, particularly the board mills and the wood energy sector that depends on the supply of timber from the private sector." According to IFA figures, 13% of the whole Irish timber harvest was produced by the private forestry sector in 2007. This is proportionate to 400,000 m3, but when you take into account that production forecasts expect it to increase to 5.9 million m3 by 2015 the need for additional resources is clear. Mr. Hennessy commented “early thinnings are not profitable operations; already the cost of harvesting is one of the main obstacles to harvesting. Without a Forest Road grant these forests will not be thinned” “It is scandalous that at a time when the Government promotes bio-energy through schemes such as the Greener Homes and the Reheat, is in the middle of a Climate Change campaign to reduce carbon emissions and as oil prices continue to soar to $145 per barrel, that they would not sufficiently fund Forest Roads that are a vital link to accessing this carbon neutral, renewable indigenous resource." The main problem that challenges the realisation of the full potential of farm forestry plantation is access. Many farms with plantations have access issues and it is of paramount importance that roads are put in place before harvesting operations can begin.

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