News & Articles
The Importance of Forestry Biodiversity and Agri-environments in Ireland.
Forest biodiversity refers to all life forms found within forested areas and the ecological roles they perform. It not only includes the trees, but the plants, animals and micro-organisms that live within the plantation. What can you do to improve your land and support our ecosystem? Plant more trees! Plantations provide an environment for life […]
Forest industry tells government how sector can be saved
Tim Mc Carthy Chairman of Forest Owners Co-operative Society (FOCS) and forest owner who is currently waiting on a felling licence. Pic; Larry Cummins Some forest owners are waiting four years for licences Jobs are being lost, some farmers are selling their plantations on to multinationals, machinery is parked up, and contractors are left paying […]
Forest owners warn of damage risk for their unfelled trees
Private forest owners have warned they could face average losses as high as €100,000, if trees lose condition, or suffer windblow damage, while they wait for licences to allow harvest. By mid-December, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine had a backlog of 4,700 licence applications to allow farmers carry out felling, planting, and […]
‘Being part of a co-op is worth a lot to us’
Abraham Kingston is a dairy and former drystock farmer from Drimoleague, West Cork. His 28 hectares support 45 dairy cows, as well as replacement heifers. Abraham was one of the pioneers of farm forestry in the late 1980s when he decided to plant an out-farm near Ballydehob. He said: “The land in question was miles […]