Tag Archives: forest

In a week during which a major forest fire has raged  near Oughterard in County Galway, landowners and visitors have been warned to be more careful during this spell of exceptionally dry weather. Minister for Agriculture Food & Marine, Michael Creed and Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys have reminded landowners and the public that it is an offence under Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 (amended by Section 46 of the Wildlife Act, 2000) to burn, from 1st March to 31st August in any year, any vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated. Individuals who are found to burn vegetation within that prohibited period are liable to prosecution by An Garda Síochána or by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Commenting on the recent incidence of gorse fires throughout the country, Minister Creed said, “The Department of Agriculture has issued a number of Fire Danger Notices to the forestry sector since the beginning of March, including …

FOREST owners in the county may be included in a Knowledge Transfer Group to be funded by the Department of Agriculture. The Clare Timber Producer Group will be holding meetings in Kilkishen Cultural Centre on Wednesday night next and the Fiddle Head in Kilmihil on December 12 to outline the draft pilot project, identify forest owners willing to participate and gather feedback to develop the project with the department. The department is proposing that participants will receive expenses for taking part in the pilot project. Welcoming the inclusion of Clare in the pilot project, Brian Meaney, secretary of the Clare Timber Producer Group, stated, “This is an opportunity to increase the level of forest management activity among participants of the project, realising and improving the value of their forests and will ultimately benefit all forest owners in County Clare. “It is also important to develop a forest owners group in Clare to operate as a collective to improve financial return from farm forestry, to develop …