The North East Forestry Group (NEFG) is hosting an event on Wednesday, November 2, to show some of its group members and the wider community what it has achieved with its Woodland to Workshop Project.
This project has shown the ability to link local craft timber users and local schools with NEFG members, with the aim of developing local markets for timber from the woodlands of group members, said vice-chair John Sherlock.
“The group members have participated in various training modules such as tree selection, sawmilling timber, drying timber and timber beam building construction,” he said.
The NEFG was formed with the support of Teagasc in May 2013. It was open to forest owners in counties Cavan, Louth, Meath, and Monaghan.
The purpose of the group was to gather forest owners interested in maximising their forests’ potential return, and with the help of Teagasc, avail of a range of benefits.
These included gathering clusters of similarly aged plantations to get economies of scale in harvesting and selling of timber; and running courses such as chainsaw and First Aid and pooling knowledge of thinning procedures of contractors to achieve the best return from forests.
A number of field days and events were held, with expert speakers on various forest activities. All sizes and categories of forest and forest owners from the novice to the experienced were welcomed.
The group, which has achieved Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, ran successful knowledge transfer groups where forest owners were paid to attend various workshops and field days to expand their knowledge and learn best practices in managing their forest.
North East Forestry Group
The NEFG commissioned educators from Scotland and the Atlantic University in Letterfrack, Galway, along with Teagasc forestry advisors to provide their expertise in these fields.
Locally grown timber has also been provided to four secondary schools for use within their woodworking classes.
“This link with the next generation of timber users is seen as a vital component of the project,” said John.
“The members have also visited several projects using locally grown timber which are under construction and some which have already been completed.
“The NEFG website has been reconfigured to provide a portal to link craft timber users with NEFG members. This will link timber growers with timber users in a truly circular economy,” John continued.
“A videographer has recorded the members’ journeys on the project from start to finish,” he added.
John believes that the knowledge gained by NEFG members will ensure that they manage their woodlands in a way that provides quality timber.
“This process should command a premium price for their timber, while also protecting the environment,” said the vice-chair.
“A number of local craft timber users have already availed of local timber and are very enthusiastic about having Irish grown timber to use as a unique selling point in marketing their creations,” he added.
“The NEFG already has two members that purchased small sawmills in anticipation of future local timber supply.
“By hosting this project our group realise, that although private woodland ownership is still a relatively new agricultural enterprise within Ireland, it has the potential to provide quality timber ready for local craft timber users,” said group chair, Derek McCabe.
“In turn, forest owners’ efforts will be rewarded by a premium price for their product, along with helping local rural enterprise.”
According to the chair, the project has been funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The ‘completion event’ will be held in the Headfort Arms Hotel, Kells, Co. Meath at 7:00p.m.
There will be a presentation of the group’s new group timber inventory and website/sales portal along with the first showing of our project at the completion event.
There will also be speeches by key players in the project and a light meal.