COFORD Council Activities Report 2016

The attached report lists the COFORD Council’s activities in 2016. COFORD is the one group that brings together all facets of the forest sector on the island of Ireland to work in partnership with government and public bodies to support the development of the sector and the ecosystem services it provides. In line with increasing levels of harvest and wood processing the sector continues to grow and increase in its importance in the economy and in its contribution to wider society. Its value to the economy is estimated to be over €2.3 bn per annum. Forests also provide valuable recreation space for a growing number of urban dwellers, and of course, they and the products they provide play an important role in tackling climate change. Shortly after the appointment of the new COFORD Council in August 2015, we established seven working groups to progress specific areas of development in the sector. An update on each of these initiatives is provided in this report. An important aspect of the Council’s work is the input it provides to the national forest research programme, as a follow-on from the Forest Research Ireland report, which was developed in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Another element of COFORD is its publications, including the well-known COFORD Connects Notes, among which is the annual Woodflow, which has become the standard reference on forest harvest and trade in Ireland. I would like to thank the COFORD council who have all made a significant time commitment to progressing our work during 2016 and continue to do so. In conclusion I wish to acknowledge the essential secretariat and support functions provided to the Council by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and its officials, and those in other departments and agencies who have provided continuing input to our work and deliberations.

COFORD Council Activities Report 2016 (pdf 1,802Kb)