Forest owners are the innocent victims in the forestry appeals process and objectors should not be allowed to prohibit people from managing their crop, Marina Conway, CEO of Western Forestry Co-op has said.

“People might have an issue with Government policy, the environmental or social aspects of forestry but behind these [forests] are real people,” she said.

Barry O’Hagan is trying to use forestry to make his farm more sustainable, she said, adding that Western Forestry Co-op is not in place to promote forestry but to give people information and help them to manage it.

“Plenty of people have gone through due process. In Barry’s case, he did everything he could over the last two years.

“Save Leitrim purports to be anti-conifers, but it has objected to three native woodlands in the county,” she said.