The Irish Timber Growers Association (ITGA) 2021 Forestry and Timber Yearbook was launched this week by Minister with responsibility for Forestry at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett.
In welcoming the yearbook publication, its 32nd edition, the minister said:
“The yearbook continues to reflect the importance of the sector, its economic and environmental significance and provides the sector with important reference material and is an ideal compendium of information for growers and the industry.”
ITGA chairman Brendan Lacey added:
As a sector, forestry is ideally placed to form a core part of agriculture in Ireland, enhancing its sustainability through offsetting agricultural emissions, sequestering carbon and increasing biodiversity.
He outlined that the yearbook highlights the attributes of forestry including its economic, environmental and social importance through the articles and statistical information in the publication.
The yearbook contains 208 pages of information for timber growers, forestry professionals, the timber industry and the general public. The mainstay of the publication is the industry statistics and the directory of services, according to the organisation.
The chairman said: “The importance of addressing climate change has been reflected in the all-of-Government Climate Action Plan to tackle Climate Breakdown, which clearly sets out the ambition for Ireland and includes the critical role for forests in sequestering carbon.
It is important that the sector has access to relevant information as in the yearbook on which to base important decisions.
Lacey also thanked Coillte and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the main yearbook sponsors, and the various companies, organisations and individuals who continue to support its publication.