Minister of State with responsibility for forestry Michael Healy-Rae has officially launched a range of new factsheets on forest certification.

The ten new documents were launched at the Irish Timber Growers Association (ITGA) field day, held in association with GP Wood in Lissarda, Co. Cork.

The factsheets, developed by forest certification expert, Mechteld Schuller, provide guidance for forest owners on the processes, benefits, and general requirements of forest certification.

The initiative is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) under its Forestry Promotion Projects 2025–2026 programme.

Forestry

As private forests are forecast to supply the majority of Ireland’s timber in the coming decades, ITGA said that progressing group certification is "now a critical enabler for the sector".

According to ITGA, group certification is designed to reduce administrative and cost barriers for individual forest owners by allowing them to certify collectively under a shared framework.

The association added that this model is being increasingly seen as essential to scaling certification uptake across Ireland’s private farm forest base.

The new factsheets cover key topics including certification standards, group certification structures, compliance requirements, environmental considerations, and the commercial benefits of certification.

Certification

The newly established National Forest Certification Board held its first meeting in December.

The industry-led board is to put in place measures to scale up the area of forests that are certified nationally. 

Commenting at the launch of the new certification factsheets, Minister Healy-Rae said:

"These fact sheets are a practical step in helping forest owners understand and engage with certification, ensuring our forestry sector remains competitive, credible, and aligned with national and EU objectives."