There is consensus among many members of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) taskforce, that a windblow strategy is vital if the value of the blown timber is maximised in what’s left on an 18-month salvage period. The strategy would include a cohesive marketing and harvesting plan, which will utilise Ireland’s existing timber mobilisation structure, as well as planning overseas help to deal with this disaster.

At least three forestry companies are discussing timber removal with overseas contractors. Irish contractors don’t have sufficient capacity to harvest and transport the estimated 10.1m m3 of windblown timber.

The challenge facing Coillte, to harvest and sell its own 4.9m m3 of blown timber before it degrades, is a major one. It represents over 18 months harvest, but the State-owned company has the resources and expertise to remove the windblown timber within this timeframe.

However, the challenge facing private forest owners – mainly farmers – is enormous.

Their task is to harvest, mobilise and sell 5.2m m3 of logs, which represents four-years’ harvest based on recent annual production.

These growers are poorly organised and dependent on a strategy which will provide cohesion to optimise markets, not only in Ireland but also overseas. Like Coillte, they have 18 months – now reduced to 16 months since the January storm – before degrade, but unlike Coillte, they haven’t the resources to achieve a strategic approach, which this disaster urgently requires.

Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae has brought energy and commitment to his role in charge of forestry and the taskforce but a number of outstanding issues have yet to be addressed.

Nobody doubts his sincerity when he says his “approach is one of listening to and working with the affected people and stakeholders, and finding solutions to the harvesting and mobilising of windblown timber”.

But what does this support look like? If it emerges as a strategy that has a schedule in timber removal led by a storm manager, then private windblown timber can be mobilised and its value maximised. However, if the Government adopts a laissez-faire approach to this disaster, private forest owners, face a bleak future.

Domestic timber capacity

Timber mobilisation in the windblown areas is dependent on co-operation between forest owners, forestry companies, contractors, sawmills and Coillte, which would ideally need rapid harvesting in cluster groups of both Coillte and private forests, along with log storage facilities.

To maximise this operation, blown timber needs to be prioritised by timber processors. This requires suspending the harvesting of standing timber, which has yet to take place.

The appointment of a storm co-ordinator is essential to implement a strategy that maximises the value of the blown timber, which needs to be treated as a national resource, just as it was in Sweden after storm Gudrun.

Overseas help

The DAFM taskforce has discussed using overseas harvesters to help clear the windblown timber, but hasn’t formally approached international contracting companies.

Countries with strong forest and wood cultures invite help from neighbouring countries to harvest windblown or diseased timber.

As pointed out in previous articles, Sweden, which has the most advanced forestry industry, needed contractors from all over Europe, not only to harvest its windblown timber, but also to replant the cleared forests.

So far, the companies that are prepared to enlist overseas contractors are discussing pricing, logistics and scheduling.

These will have to adapt to different log size categories and volume measurement, as continental harvesters are paid by volume measured off the computerised harvesting heads. Even though four years’ private timber harvest has been blown, as yet there has been no formal approach to the EU for funding to alleviate what is a disaster for many forest owners. Seeking EU aid is worth exploring.

For example, last November, EU member states’ representatives in the Special Committee on Agriculture endorsed the provision of “further assistance to countries affected by recent unprecedented natural disasters through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)”.

Proposal

The proposal was framed to allow member states “to use the uncommitted 2014-2020 rural development funds to recover and rebuild, by providing emergency assistance to farmers, foresters and businesses affected by climate-related disasters”.

“The EU is enabling those member states who have unused rural development funds from the previous programming period to swiftly and flexibly react to the devastating effects of recent natural disasters,” according to the communiqué.

The taskforce has limitations in what it can do. For example, pricing is outside its remit, but it can be proactive in creating a positive timber removal environment by granting felling and roading licences automatically to owners with windblown crops.

Strategy

Likewise, a workable strategy can create positive marketing conditions by providing incentives for hauliers who will need to transport logs over long distances.

It can also ensure that a transparent measurement system is applied to private timber delivered to mills just as it is for Coillte timber (see panel).

If it avoids these issues, then felling of standing timber will continue and timber processors will utilise the same volumes as they have in recent years, leaving up to 3m m3 of timber to rot.

Next week: We interview Sweden’s ‘storm general’ and a European forest management adviser who will identify key issues in optimising Ireland’s windblown timber.

Achieving fair and accurate timber measurement for all

Timber is sold by volume (m3) in virtually all European countries. The volume is measured off the computerised harvesting head, which is accepted by forest owners, contractors and timber processors.

Ireland has a different measurement system. Timber for standing sales is measured and priced by estimated volume in cubic metres (m3) in the forest. It is measured in tonnes at the processing mill weighbridge and converted to m3. In order to ensure a fair measurement system, Coillte and the Irish Timber Council (ITC) introduced a transparent scheme to accurately convert tonnes to cubic metres for Coillte timber that crosses the mill weighbridge. The system, which is independently audited, is maintained by Coillte, which co-owns it with the ITC – the body representing the sawmills.

This system is not available to private growers and contractors, but it could be rolled out for private sales in cooperation with Coillte and the sawmills. The minister is aware of this system and it is our understanding that all private growers recommend it. There would be an extra cost for Coillte, which could be funded by DAFM as an emergency pilot scheme, before it would eventually be self-funded by private forest owners.

Without an accurate measurement system, private forest owners are exposed, just as Coillte would be if the current system was not in place. This volume-weight ratio becomes more crucial as blown timber dries out over prolonged periods before harvesting.

For example, a 10% differential in volume-weight conversion, represents €25m to private owners if the current windblow of 5.2m m3 is conservatively valued at €250m.

A fair measurement system for all is a practical and achievable taskforce option. The taskforce would benefit from a presentation by Purser Tarleton Russell Ltd, the company that helped design and independently monitors the Coillte sawmill timber measurement system.