Money grows on trees– it really does!
Well farm forestry ticks all the right boxes. The world demand for timber keeps on growing despite the collapse of the construction sector in Ireland and in other countries. According to the NCREIF index, based on the North American forest holdings the 20-year data shows an average annual return of 15%.
Indeed the global trade for woody biomass, primarily for energy was over 11 million m3 in 2007, up from 5.6 million in 2003. Higher oil prices guarantee an ongoing demand for timber as a renewable fuel for electricity and heating. A recent trend in the Nordic regions is the growing number of facilities producing ethanol and bio diesel from local forests.
