What Every Forest Owner Should Know
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As you sit quietly reading these lines…what is happening inside your forest?
When you take a walk around your property…what do you imagine is going on deep inside?
How can you know? …The straight answer is you can’t.
6 Reasons Why It Is Essential To Check Out Every Inch Of Your Forest
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1. The Value Of Your Forest.
The bottom line…how much is your forestry worth?
In the long term, forestry is a stable, secure investment…trees are the only class of assets whose value has risen in three, out of the last four market collapses during the 20th century. Forestry is the best asset class of the last thirty years.
In times of crises, investors make huge shifts in investment strategies away from stocks and shares into more tangible markets, like forests…because they are real! It’s a comforting feeling to know that you’ve invested in something that you can physically touch.
One of the greatest emerging markets in Ireland is for wood chips, for use in heating; and the installation of wood chip boilers is on the increase. Over 2000 hectares of Irish forestry has to be thinned each year to keep pace with the current demand.
Today, heat generation from renewable sources accounts for 4% of total consumption. And this is set to explode as the government must put in place measures to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Demand is growing and investors know there’s big money to be made.
Check it out for yourself. Look how many investment companies are advertising to buy blocks of standing forest.
So What Does This All Mean To You
This all means that you are sitting on a valuable asset. And the best news…your asset is only going to increase in value!
But, like all assets, the true worth of your forest needs to be determined.
You need to get a professional forester to do a valuation. They will survey the entire plantation and give you a present valuation and an estimation of future value.
This is where we come in. Forest Ireland will open up your entire plantation with inspection paths, so the true money value for your crop can be found.
Only when you know what your timber is worth can you start to make informed decisions about what it is in your best interests to do.
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2. Your Forest Is At Risk From Infection And Disease.
Because Ireland is an island nation, and our forestry is relatively new, we have not been at great risk from forest pests and diseases in the past.
But with increased movement, in and out of our country, of plant material, logs, sawn timbers, pallets, packing cases, etc, the risk of disease and pest infection increases. This worldwide threat can be deadly.
An example of this was in July, 2007. Two consignments of timber from Canada were found to be infested with the pine wood nematode, a microscopic eelworm. This is a serious danger to European forestry. Portugal was infected in 1999 resulting in a serious infestation of Portuguese forests. Millions of trees have since been felled in attempts to eradicate the problem. Click here for full article.
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3. Your Trees Need Nutrition.
Proper nutrition is essential if the higher value forest products are to be grown.
You need to be able to walk your plantation regularly to check on the health of your trees. Your eyes will tell you if they are in need of any help.
What to look out for:
- A change in colour of the trees.
- Shrinkage in shoot growth.
- Shrinkage in needle growth.
- Die back of top or side shoots.
- General reduction of vigour.
Forest Ireland inspection lines give you access into the heart of your plantation. Although most landowners would know a problem when they see it…you’re blind without proper access.
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4. Thinning
The reason for thinning out your forest is primarily to allow the best trees to grow bigger. The trees that are felled can be either left to waste or extracted for sale or other use.
In order to make the decision to thin, you must first have the forest inspected to be sure that it makes overall economic sense. (See our upcoming feature on thinning).
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5. Windblow
You want to be able to see if any section of your crop has fallen. This is especially true after a heavy storm. The longer you leave your plantation to grow, the more risk of windblow occurring. Then you have a crop that is rotting on the ground.
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6. Through Access
For some landowners, there is a huge benefit in being able to take shortcuts through the plantation. One farmer told me, he was blocked from getting to the lake at the end of his property until we opened the access paths. He loved his fishing and the lake was teaming with rainbow trout.
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REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE FOREST IRELAND FOR YOUR INSPECTION PATHS:
1. You enjoy a sense of security in the knowledge that Forest Ireland has been cutting forestry inspection paths for over 12 years.
2. Forest Ireland is a small team of professional woodcutters who open access paths every day of our working lives. We don’t do anything else. We have an experience and knowledge about forestry inspection paths that is second to none.
- Lines are placed to segment the plantation into small blocks of 50 x 50 meters or 100 x 100 meters, depending on requirements.
- We try our very best to cut the paths so that they are easy to walk through. Not everyone that uses the paths will be able to jump ditches or climb over mounds.
- We put extra emphasis on marking the intersections where the paths will cross. We do this by opening up more trees and tagging them with tape. This is very important because these junctions are sometimes not seen in poor light.
- All entrances are cut extra wide. This is because growth tends to close in entrance arches fairly quickly if they are not cut wide enough. The last thing you want is the access points disappearing under a burst of growth.
- We use GPS navigation tools to help us place the paths more accurately. GPS also gives almost perfect line measurements. This is used in conjuction with the more traditional magnetic compass.
- All paths are marked accurately on the copy of the map that will be returned to you.
- All bad sectors, including stunted growth, brambles, gorse, and windblow etc., are marked accurately on the map that will be returned to you.
3. You have our promise that when we take on your job, we’ll fix a start date, a finish date, and we’ll stick to it. You contact us, we agree a price, you send us the maps, and we see you when the job is done.
4. Your pathways will remain open, with only a small amount of maintenance, for the life of the forest.
5. Each job that we do is guaranteed. That is a no quibble, 100% guarantee.
6. We are a small company and that’s the way we like it. It means that we can offer a better quality service to our customers through close contact and support, before, during, and after the contract.
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To CONTACT us, just give me a call, I’m Kevin, on 085 1677439.
If you don’t get an answer, you will hear a short message, wait until the tone and leave your name and telephone number.
I will ring you back within 24 hours.
Thank you and good luck.
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Click On These Other sources:
The Farmers Journal On The Importance Of Regular Inspections
