Forestry brings €1.6bn to national economy

FORESTRY now contributes over €1.6 billion annually to the Irish economy, it was revealed yesterday.

Research publications launched by COFORD, the National Council for Forest Research and Development, also predicted that forestry will make a significant contribution to Ireland’s greenhouse gas reduction targets under the Kyoto protocol.

Forestry Minister Mary Wallace launched the publications, which are based on research funded by COFORD under the National Development Plan, and carried out by research teams at UCC and UCD in collaboration with Coillte.