Conference on future issues for forest industries in Europe

To mark Ireland's presidency of the EU, a key forestry and wood products conference will be held in Dublin from 28 April to 1 May next. The venue is Alexander Hotel, off Merrion Square, Dublin but the conference will also include visits to forests and processing sites. The use of information technology in timber processing will be seen in visits to forest harvesting sites and during a tour of Weyerhaeuser Europe in Clonmel the medium density fibreboard (MDF) processing plant.

There will also be field trips to Coillte's nursery and seed centre at Ballintemple, County Carlow and an afforestation site. The conference organisers, COFORD and InnovaWood, welcome attendance from all with an interest in the future of the forest sector. Announcing the conference, Mr David Nevins, Chairman of COFORD stated that, "among the areas under discussion will be forest certification, the conflict between wood fibre for energy and for traditional wood products, training and innovation.''

Further information from COFORD (http://www.coford.ie/ or e-mail mailto:info@coford.ie) and InnovaWood (http://www.innovawood.com/). Also contact: Nicola McCombie, COFORD, Agricultural Building, Belfield, Dublin 4 (tel: 01 7167700) or Denis McGowan, InnovaWood International Office, 107 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2 (tel: 01 6763181).