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FNN 178: Irish Forestry - Give us the SEA

FNN 178: ‘Irish Forestry: Give Us the SEA' calls for an Strategic Environmental Assessment to lay the groundwork for a sustainable national forestry policy. The legal exemption from SEA in Irish law only applied while forestry was EU funded - which is no longer the case. Has the loophole become a noose?

FSC - the Irish ‘greenwash'. Forestry contractors join environmentalist to protest over clearfell damage. Maps tracking the vanishing Hen harrier and the fresh water pearl mussel. The INFF Forestry Conference. Forestry and climate change. Coillte: its legal status; how it is exporting permethrine with the adhesive Flexcoat to the UK where it is unauthorised; its non return of €8 million in unauthorised grants required by the EU Court since 2002. An obituary for Crann.

 

Click on this link for the archived email html illustrated version

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Posted By Tony Lowes on 12/11/2008 ( Reads : 788 ) | Comments (0)
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FNN 174: Clearfelling in Ireland

FOREST NETWORK NEWSLETTER

 ISSUE NUMBER 174

MARCH 29 2007

FREE BY EMAIL

FNN is pleased to return after a long absence. The editors intend to produce monthly issues during the remainder of 2007. Both the website and the mailer are about to be redesigned; until then this PDF is the only format available. Readers who wish to reproduce individual articles and have difficulty with this format may be able to extract them more easily from the website version at http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/fnn/

1. INTRODUCTION Clearfell and the environment

 2. LETTERS Woodlands of Ireland: cypermethrin derogation Forestry as carbon 'offsets' [Irish Times, unpublished]

3 PARLIAMENTARY REPLIES Planting rates and plans Fresh water Pearl mussel Waiving Felling License obligations for environmental reasons Implications of the Habitats Regulations for forestry No requirements for native trees? Brash removal

4. NEWS New protocol to protect hen harrier Killarney fencing in breach of Habitats Directive? Coillte denies pesticides threat to Sneem water

5. ARTICLE OF THE WEEK: Clearfell and the environment. Clearfelling and restoration near Castletownbere, County Cork Clearfell at Rossnacroo, Nr Kilgarvan , Co Kerry Clearfell Near Sneem, Co Kerry Clearfell and restoration at the Ballyhoura Mountains County Cork

6. ABOUT US

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Posted By the editors on 29/03/2007 ( Reads : 1674 ) | Comments (0)
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FNN 176: PART II: FSC Certification - Review of Woodmark's Audit of Coillte Teo

FOREST NETWORK NEWSLETTER ISSUE NUMBER 176

MONTHLY JUNE 2007

FREE BY E.MAIL

NEXT MONTH: Forestry and the hen harrier, how the deal was struck.

 1. INTRODUCTION Forest Stewardship Council's [FSC] Forestry Certification: frustrating sustainable forestry?

2. LETTERS Forestry certification is just a bad joke Stick to the facts Tony.

3. NEWS Coillte sells stake in Austrian venture [RTE Online] Biofuel bonanza expected from Norwegian wood [ENDS Environment Daily] 'Protected' Congo forest is logged regardless [New Scientist] Tree trade could save planet from global warming [New Scientist] Soybean boom spells bad news for climate[New Scientist]

4. ARTICLE OF THE WEEK Forest Stewardship Council's [FSC] Forestry Certification: frustrating sustainable forestry - Woodmark Forest Certification Public Report on Coillte Teo

5. ABOUT US

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Posted By the editors on 01/06/2007 ( Reads : 1980 ) | Comments (0)
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Millennium Tree Certificate Scam

The Millennium Tree Certificates issued to every household in Ireland are a scam forced on the Millennium People's Forest project by the Millennium Committee for political spin.

Material released to Friends of the Irish Environment under the Freedom of Information Act from the Taoiseach's Department shows that the project as proposed by Coillte had no element of individual certificates for every household. The project was planned for the nation as a whole.

The Millennium Committee and Minister Breenan, however, insisted on the issuing of certificates as a condition of an additional £1 million in funding which Ray McSharry requested in September of 1999.

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Millennium Tree Certificate Scam
Posted By Tony Lowes on 26/08/2009 ( Reads : 337 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 178: Irish Forestry - Give us the SEA

FNN 178: ‘Irish Forestry: Give Us the SEA' calls for an Strategic Environmental Assessment to lay the groundwork for a sustainable national forestry policy. The legal exemption from SEA in Irish law only applied while forestry was EU funded - which is no longer the case. Has the loophole become a noose?

FSC - the Irish ‘greenwash'. Forestry contractors join environmentalist to protest over clearfell damage. Maps tracking the vanishing Hen harrier and the fresh water pearl mussel. The INFF Forestry Conference. Forestry and climate change. Coillte: its legal status; how it is exporting permethrine with the adhesive Flexcoat to the UK where it is unauthorised; its non return of €8 million in unauthorised grants required by the EU Court since 2002. An obituary for Crann.

 

Click on this link for the archived email html illustrated version

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 178: Irish Forestry - Give us the SEA
Posted By Tony Lowes on 12/11/2008 ( Reads : 788 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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Forestry Review - Ireland 2008

Forestry affects the environment in many ways. When managed sustainably through low impact silvicultural systems using appropriate species they enhance native biodiversity, protect waters and soils and providing a multitude of social and economic resources.

Unfortunately in Ireland the practice is high impact forestry on marginal agricultural land which has resulted in loss of native habitat, soil erosion, and water pollution. The issues are:

1. Who controls forestry and what are they doing?
2. Why is its impact so bad?
3. What forestry should we be seeking?

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Forestry Review - Ireland 2008
Posted By Tony Lowes on 09/11/2008 ( Reads : 687 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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Coillte's exploits pesticides export loophole

UK nurseries have suffered from Coillte's undercutting of their market by dumping left over plants from the failed Irish forestry program on the UK market for some time, especially as they take up the quota allocate by the UK Forestry Commission to the 'private' sector. Now they are particularly bitter about Coillte's import into the UK of seedlings which have been impregnated with flexicoat and insecticides together.

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - Coillte's exploits pesticides export loophole
Posted By Tony Lowes on 09/11/2008 ( Reads : 779 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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THE 8 MILLION COILLTE ILLEGAL GRANTS

From 1993 - 1998 Coillte Teo claimed ‘premia' grants for planting trees when these grants were intended only for farmers. They then used the proceeds to finance the purchase of 60,000 hectares, borrowing £50.9 which was to be serviced from the premiums receivable into the future.

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - THE 8 MILLION COILLTE ILLEGAL GRANTS
Posted By Tony Lowes on 09/11/2008 ( Reads : 699 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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ASI and GMIT allegations against FIE

 

Statement by Friends of the Irish Environment on Allegations Made by Representatives of Accreditation Services International and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - ASI and GMIT allegations against FIE
Posted By Tony Lowes on 05/11/2007 ( Reads : 1318 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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The definition of peat soils

An anomaly has arisen in relation to the definition of ‘peat' within the Department of Agriculture.

 

The ‘Nitrates' Regulations 2006 [European Communities (Good Agriculture Practice for the Protection of Waters) Regulations, 2006 (S.I. No. of 2006)] Schedule 1 has been amended to clarify the definition of peat soils. This is given as ‘soils with an organic matter content exceeding 20%'. [Department of Environment, Press Release 19 July, 2006.]

 

However the definition of peat soils used by the Forest Service was given by the Minister for Agriculture in a written reply to a Parliamentary Question this April. The soils must constitute ‘a peat layer greater than 30 cm on drained peats and greater than 45 cm on undrained peats.' [13955/06]. No reference was made to the organic matter in the soil. For her authority, she referred the Deputy to the ‘Peatlands of Ireland, Soil Survey Bulletin' by R.F. Hammond, 1979.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - The definition of peat soils
Posted By Tony Lowes on 14/10/2007 ( Reads : 1245 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 177 - The Vanishing Hen Harrier

The Vanishing Hen harrier

The story of how the Hen harrier became the hostage to the ‘reckless populism of the IFA leadership’ with the areas to be designated reduced from 287,000 hectares to 169,000 hectares. At the demands of the IFA for the ‘constitutional right to achieve optimal returns on your asset’, a further 9,000 hectares of forestry are to be permitted even in the protected areas, though the population fell from 134 to 105 pairs  2000 – 2005 and the Parks and Wildlife Service itself admits that ‘the bottom line is that new planting represents a net loss of foraging habitat'. 

Other news

Row over new plan to protect endangered hen harriers. Coillte defends felling Lough Corrib wood. Agency questions State's forestry policy. Report calls for plans for forest biodiversity. Salvage logging from burned forests worsens later fires. Certification: Meeting to present the proposals for a new process leading to the development of a Sustainable Forestry Standard for Ireland in conjunction with the Forest Stewardship Council.  

Article of the week

Review of the Research and Information on Forestry’s Impact on the Hen Harrier

 

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 177 - The Vanishing Hen Harrier
Posted By Tony Lowes on 12/09/2007 ( Reads : 1627 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 176: PART II: FSC Certification - Review of Woodmark's Audit of Coillte Teo

FOREST NETWORK NEWSLETTER ISSUE NUMBER 176

MONTHLY JUNE 2007

FREE BY E.MAIL

NEXT MONTH: Forestry and the hen harrier, how the deal was struck.

 1. INTRODUCTION Forest Stewardship Council's [FSC] Forestry Certification: frustrating sustainable forestry?

2. LETTERS Forestry certification is just a bad joke Stick to the facts Tony.

3. NEWS Coillte sells stake in Austrian venture [RTE Online] Biofuel bonanza expected from Norwegian wood [ENDS Environment Daily] 'Protected' Congo forest is logged regardless [New Scientist] Tree trade could save planet from global warming [New Scientist] Soybean boom spells bad news for climate[New Scientist]

4. ARTICLE OF THE WEEK Forest Stewardship Council's [FSC] Forestry Certification: frustrating sustainable forestry - Woodmark Forest Certification Public Report on Coillte Teo

5. ABOUT US

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 176: PART II: FSC Certification - Review of Woodmark's Audit of Coillte Teo
Posted By the editors on 01/06/2007 ( Reads : 1980 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 175: PART I: FSC Certification - frustrating sustainable forestry?
Forest Stewardship Council's [FSC] Forestry Certification: frustrating sustainable forestry? Letters: A review of the Irish Forestry Certification Initiative in Ireland 1999 - 2007. Mary Coughlan's last fling - Lets Coillte keep illegal €8 million payment. PQs: Unknown Amount of Reforestation continuing in areas protected by Acidification Protocol. Reforestation controlled by Guidelines.
Strategic Review of Coillte's Activities requested by Minister.
Recounting of €8 disallowed premia to be addressed.
Proceedings to be issued by EU over fresh water pearl mussel protection.
Fresh water pearl mussel Species protection plan due for public consultation.
No news of fresh water pearl mussel Guidelines.
Water quality above Q5 for fresh water pearl mussel sites. News: Land sales help forestry firm Coillte grow profits to €22.4m. Positive movement on forestry proposals. Worms go into battle against evil weevil.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 175: PART I: FSC Certification - frustrating sustainable forestry?
Posted By the editors on 29/04/2007 ( Reads : 1651 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 174: Clearfelling in Ireland

FOREST NETWORK NEWSLETTER

 ISSUE NUMBER 174

MARCH 29 2007

FREE BY EMAIL

FNN is pleased to return after a long absence. The editors intend to produce monthly issues during the remainder of 2007. Both the website and the mailer are about to be redesigned; until then this PDF is the only format available. Readers who wish to reproduce individual articles and have difficulty with this format may be able to extract them more easily from the website version at http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/fnn/

1. INTRODUCTION Clearfell and the environment

 2. LETTERS Woodlands of Ireland: cypermethrin derogation Forestry as carbon 'offsets' [Irish Times, unpublished]

3 PARLIAMENTARY REPLIES Planting rates and plans Fresh water Pearl mussel Waiving Felling License obligations for environmental reasons Implications of the Habitats Regulations for forestry No requirements for native trees? Brash removal

4. NEWS New protocol to protect hen harrier Killarney fencing in breach of Habitats Directive? Coillte denies pesticides threat to Sneem water

5. ARTICLE OF THE WEEK: Clearfell and the environment. Clearfelling and restoration near Castletownbere, County Cork Clearfell at Rossnacroo, Nr Kilgarvan , Co Kerry Clearfell Near Sneem, Co Kerry Clearfell and restoration at the Ballyhoura Mountains County Cork

6. ABOUT US

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 174: Clearfelling in Ireland
Posted By the editors on 29/03/2007 ( Reads : 1674 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 173: Permethrin, closing the regulatory cycle?
Permethrin, closing the regulatory cycle? Woodlands of Ireland wins €50 Book Token. Much better to live in a cocoon- Coillte Teo.'s repayment of grant money. Parliamentary Replies: Regulatory impact assessment of FPM Forestry Guidelines; Date of publication of FPM Forestry Guidelines; Hydrological impacts and dangerous substances and forestry; Extent of protection of fresh water pearl mussel; Forestry Planting Rate. Forestry plantation grants. Government must make commitment to forestry's role in renewable energy. RDS Forestry award winners. The Permethrin Submissions: INFF; Voice; An Taisce; FIE; Woodlands Of Ireland.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 173: Permethrin, closing the regulatory cycle?
Posted By the editors on 26/10/2006 ( Reads : 1915 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 172: Parliamentary Replies show lack of education
Hostile and Unforgiving? Ministerial replies to forestry questions. Fresh water pearl mussel: the UK approach. Coillte Teo. vs. FNN [Link to audio file] Green argument used against replanting trees. Coillte grant aid to farmers. Review of 1996 Forestry Policy. Fresh Water Pearl Mussel Forestry Guidelines: full terms of reference. The Definition of Peat Soils. Foliar Analysis. Control of unauthorised forestry €50 book token for the best submission on Coillte Teo's application for derogation for the toxic chemical pesticide cypermethrin.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 172: Parliamentary Replies show lack of education
Posted By the editors on 04/10/2006 ( Reads : 2426 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 171: The fresh water pearl mussel: the burden of proof
The fresh water pearl mussel: the burden of proof. LETTER FOR THE DE-CERTIFICATION OF COILLTE. Organizations from 8 countries demand the FSC withdraw certificates. Agricultural science community urged to join timber energy study. Solving the mysteries of our ancient woodlands. President of EU foresters says Ireland not alone in wishing to increase forest cover. Tissue mill could be boost for recycling. Cataloguing Threats To the Forests. Panama teak is the lure for Irish investors. INFORMATION NOTE OF THE WEEK: Margaritifera in the Owenriff River, Co. Galway, 2004. The end of forestry as we know it?

If you do nothing else, see these photos
extraordinary aerial photographs

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 171: The fresh water pearl mussel: the burden of proof
Posted By the editors on 09/09/2006 ( Reads : 2525 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 170: the 1927 Rural Electrification Act and the Bantry 16
The 1927 Rural Electrification Act and the Bantry 16.
Joe Barry, sceptic turned profiteer? Windfarm Developer Taking Action to Recover €1.75 million. European Commission adopts an EU Forest Action Plan. Coillte Social and Environmental Panel, South West. Drombroe: A Bantry Water Garden Rediscovered.

"I was shocked to realize I had allowed myself to be seduced by the Forestry Service's promotion of its Sustainable Forestry Programme and was starting to believe there really was a movement towards a more enlightened role for forestry in Ireland. I was once again reminded just how entrenched are the views of professionals involved with "forestry" and the absolute conviction that broadleaves have no value."
Ian Wright, in this week's REPORT of Coillte South West's Social and Environmental Panel.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 170: the 1927 Rural Electrification Act and the Bantry 16
Posted By the editors on 24/07/2006 ( Reads : 2729 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 169: Coillte's District Plans - data please
Coillte's District Plans, give me the data. The failure of Coilltes' plans to provide the monitoring data to enable us to evaluate their progress to sustainable forestry. Standish: who's paying the bill? Mussel Moratorium, Lough Ree. Ballyannan Wood management plan. Farmers urged to switch to forestry for income boost. New forestry fund . Review of Coillte Teo.'s District Strategic Plan South Kerry & West Cork 2006-2010.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 169: Coillte's District Plans - data please
Posted By the editors on 09/07/2006 ( Reads : 1944 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 168: Moratorium on felling to protect pearl mussel
Moratorium - The Good News and the Bad. FOI and Coillte Teo. Recent parliamentary questions - Moratorium on clearfelling - Margaritifera steering group terms of reference - Coillte's exclusion from forestry legislative review - NGO representation on the forestry review - Minutes of the forestry review. EC slam forestry policy. Timber 'incorrectly sold as certified by forest council', says Coillte. INFF Forestry Conference 6 October 2006: 2007, Forestry at the Crossroads.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 168: Moratorium on felling to protect pearl mussel
Posted By the editors on 20/06/2006 ( Reads : 2042 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 167: Economic Attack on the Growing of Broadleaves
Part III: The value of broadleaves: sustainable forestry, hurdle discount rates, timber prices, production and 'negative discounted revenue'. PDF Version of FNN 165 - 167 'Economic Attack on the Growing of broadleaves' will be available shortly as a pdf. "He who sups with the devil needs a long spoon", Corporate hospitality and forestry. Coillte and The Cork Environmental Forum. Sustainable forestry illegal in Ireland? Request for submissions forestry acts 1928 to 1988. Bumper Christmas tree harvest. Be 'berry wary' children told in alert on festive plants.
FNN 167 AS PDF

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 167: Economic Attack on the Growing of Broadleaves
Posted By the editors on 27/12/2005 ( Reads : 2402 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 166: Economic Attack on the Growing of broadleaves. Peer Review.
Dinosaurs Die Hard: Part II of the Initial response to Henry Phillips's 'Economic Analysis of Broadleaf Afforestation'. Peer Group Reviews. An ex-Director of FSC USA and the past CEO of the Austrian Forest service. 'Phillips neither independent or qualified.' 'Brutal Irish forestry methods would never be permitted in another European Country.' Coillte's €5000 and The Cork Environmental Forum. The foreign conifer species that are polluting Ireland's water supply. EPA detects nine environmental breaches at Clare timber facility. Sawmill firm fined for toxic chemical discharges. PDF Version:
http://friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/pdf/fnn166.pdf

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 166: Economic Attack on the Growing of broadleaves. Peer Review.
Posted By the editors on 07/12/2005 ( Reads : 2155 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network
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FNN 165: Economic Attack On The Growing Of Broadleaves In Ireland
Dinosaurs Die Hard: The New Look Economic Attack On The Growing Of Broadleaves In Ireland. Initial responses to 'Economic Analysis of Broadleaf Afforestation' by Henry Phillips, Irish Forest Industry Chain.
The Phllips Report

Part I: The Coillte Estate; Quality Issues in Sitka spruce; Irish yield models and Rotation Lengths; Establishment and Reforestation costs. Support and encouragement to those who want to grow broadleaves? Coillte's €5000 and The Cork Environmental Forum: FNN, the Phoenix of Forestry? Forestry funding up by 18 per cent for 2006. Steeped in Greenhouse Gas, Pine Trees Deviate.

Coming:
The view from outside: peer reviews of the 'Economic Analysis of Broadleaf Afforestation' from Europe and America.
Part II of the Initial response. Timber Prices and production; hurdle discount rates.

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Friends of the Irish Environment - FNN 165: Economic Attack On The Growing Of Broadleaves In Ireland
Posted By the editors on 30/11/2005 ( Reads : 2370 ) | Comments (0) | Forestry Network