Issued: 19 October 2007
Forest foliage business predicted to flourish
Speakers at a 2-day conference arranged by COFORD have shown that there are significant opportunities for new business in the forest foliage sector in Ireland. Research currently underway by Forest Produce Limited, a Kerry-based company, in collaboration with Galway Mayo Institute of Technology has shown that some commercial forests can produce sizable quantities of foliage, bringing a return to the grower at a far earlier stage in the crop cycle than would otherwise be the case. One of the speakers at the conference, Amy Costello of GMIT, estimated that incomes of €400/ha can be achieved over a period of 2 to 3 years in commercial tree crops such as western hemlock, larch and others. Interest is also growing in the use of native species such as birch and alder for foliage production.
John Fennessy of COFORD, who manages national research and development in forest foliage stated: The research that COFORD is funding and the work of companies such as West Coast Forestry, which is now supplying an annual export market of 400,000 stems of lodgepole pine to the UK market, shows the very significant potential that exists for forest foliage.
COFORD has produced a practical information note on forest foliage in its COFORD Connects series, as well as a report on Markets for non-wood forest products, both of which can be downloaded from www.coford.ie or ordered directly from COFORD (Tel: 01-2130725; email: info@COFORD.ie) . For further information please contact John Fennessy (01-2130725 or 086 3811891 or email: john.fennessy@COFORD.ie).
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