The North East Forestry Group (NEFG) have recently completed their fourth Knowledge Transfer Group (KTG) .This program is funded by the DAFM. This KTG programme is held annually. The program consisted of seven meetings three of which were held outdoors at various locations. Forest owner participants were encouraged to interact with other group members in an informal basis. This year’s KTG was fully subscribed. Forest owners were paid €80 per event to cover travelling expenses.

This year’s program was focused on helping forest owners understand how to achieve certification for their woodlands. On hand was professional forester Linda Coughlan who gave her valuable insight on the complexities of certification.  The indoor modules were held in Kells county Meath. The first outdoor event was in a NEFG members coniferous forest which just had been thinned. The second was in a mixed species Certified and RDS forestry winning group members  plantation. The last outdoor event was also in a mixed Forest which was being managed under continuous cover method.

This forest was also certified and an RDS award winning forest. At the last meeting we had Mechteld Schuller who is now a Certification auditor giving a talk on what auditors would require from a forest owner during an audit. Donal Whelan who is involved in the hosting of our KTG and is also a member of the Irish Timber Growers Association discussed how best to achieve maximum return on timber sales from forestry along with how to protect owners from timber losses and poor quality work during operations. There were lively discussions between members some of whom are potential next generation forest owners . We also had plenty of laughs and tea and coffee.

The NEFG hope to continue this KTG scheme again when DAFM funding is made available again.