A total of 42 separate forestry promotion projects have been awarded funding of €1.6m, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Pippa Hackett has announced.

Projects looking to engage with farmers, landowners and existing forest owners were prioritised during the funding call, which received 53 applications for funding.

Four of the successful projects were awarded €100,000 or more, with these beneficiaries being the Irish Agroforestry Forum, Irish Timber Growers Association, Western Forestry Co-operative Society Limited and Drima Marketing.

Others groups successful in accessing the funding were the Agricultural Consultants Association, Coillte, an Taisce and the ibec-affiliated Forest Industries Ireland.

Engaging with farmers

This round of forestry funding went to projects aiming to engage with farmers, highlight the benefits of timber and promote the multi-functional benefits of trees to society.

Minister Hackett welcomed the broad range of projects awarded funding, which will seek to promote the State’s new forestry programme.

“I hope this €1.6m [in] funding will boost the profile of forestry and encourage every farmer to explore the range of planting options available in the new forestry programme,” she said.

“I am also glad to note that many of the projects involve collaboration between organisations and groups and cover a wide range of topics from afforestation, sustainable forest management, ecosystem services, continuous cover forestry and the promotion of careers in forestry.”

Actions

Among the actions that the 42 projects are planning on carrying out with the Department funding is the use of peer-to-peer videos on forestry, raising awareness through multimedia and promoting the planting of native trees.

“I want to thank all those individuals and organisations for taking part and we look forward to working with the successful groups on the implementation of their projects over the next year.”