New Forest Owners Co-op for private land

A forest-management plan to cover thousands of hectares of privately owned plantations across the south of Ireland is the aim of the Forest Owners Co-op, which will be launched in Macroom on Friday, May 9.

Formation of the group began in 2006 with the assistance of Teagasc, in response to a desire by forest owners to maximise the benefits from their properties. Forest Owners Co-op chairman, Tim McCarthy, said there are 340,000 hectares of privately-owned forest in Ireland.

But, with 16,000 owners, small plantation sizes, and wide dispersal, they do not offer the desired economies of scale for forest operations such as timber-harvesting.