€12.5m boost for continuous cover forestry
€12.5 million has become available to support continuous cover forestry in Ireland, through an EU guaranteed loans and investments package.
Continuous cover conifer or broadleaf forestry produces commercial timber while retaining a forest cover at all times, featuring natural forest processes such as regeneration of trees, mixed species, and increased biodiversity.
Productivity and resilience to threats from pests, diseases or wind, progressively increase until trees become over-mature, when productivity finally declines.
It would end the ugly sight of bare hillsides after clearfelling.
“This new forestry investment in Ireland, with participation of the EU’s LIFE Programme and the European Investment Bank, shows how conservation considerations can be combined with commercial activity,” said Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan.
The EU Commission and the European Investment Bank are behind this new investment drive which will enable global institutional investors to support a more sustainable forestry model in Ireland, where forests are amongst the most productive in the world.
Due to its mild climate, Ireland has some of the highest growth rates for trees in the world, and a well-developed timber processing industry, which exports to the UK and other parts of Europe, and a growing bioenergy market.
The SLM Silva Fund will work with commercial forest schemes across Ireland to encourage Continuous Cover Forestry.
This fund was established in 2018 with backing from the European Investment Bank, Irish investors and other European institutional investors, to acquire existing forest plantations in Ireland, and where possible, to transition from clear-felling to Continuous Cover (CCF) methods.
With CCF methods, trees are felled individually or in small groups every few years, making way for natural regeneration.
The incremental growth is removed as ‘income’, preserving the ‘capital’ of the standing forest.
SLM Partners has entered into a partnership with an Irish forestry company, Purser Tarleton Russell Limited (PTR), which will be responsible for managing the forest properties after acquisition.
“The European Investment Bank is pleased to work with SLM Silva Fund to improve sustainable practices in Irish forests,” said Andrew McDowell, Vice President in Ireland for the European Investment Bank.
