Press release
Minister Hackett announces opening of the 5th Forestry Knowledge Transfer Group (KTG) Scheme 2023
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
Senator Pippa Hackett, Minister of State with responsibility for Biodiversity and Land Use, today announced the opening of the Forestry Knowledge Transfer Group (KTG) Scheme 2023.
Minister Hackett said:
“The Forestry KTG Scheme continues to be a very successful and sought-after scheme and I am very pleased to reopen the Scheme once again, for a fifth year, Since the Scheme’s inception, my department has funded approximately 2,400 participants.
"The aim of the Forestry KTG Scheme is to increase awareness of sustainable forest management amongst forest owners and includes topics covering Continuous Cover Forestry, Agroforestry and building forest resilience. By participating in the Scheme our target group, forest owners, gain additional knowledge to help them gain expertise in managing their forest over its lifetime.”
According to COFORD's All Ireland Roundwood Production Forecast 2016 – 2035 wood production is set to double from 4 million cubic metres to 8 million cubic metres by 2035, mostly from these privately owned forests. The Minister added:
“It is vital that the State's investment in forestry is realised through the mobilisation of this timber, and that this is done sustainably. Through the KTGs, knowledge gaps in relation harvesting, transportation, replanting and processing are addressed.
"I am pleased to note that obligations for forest owners under the Water Framework, Birds and Habitats directives and the importance of forests for climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience are also among the topics to be covered by the groups.”
The KTGs are led by a professional forester and encourage participants to engage with forestry groups and professionals. They operate with a bottom-up approach with the members themselves deciding on what it is they wish to learn. Participants get the opportunity to learn from the experts and from each other’s experiences within a discussion group setting. In addition, KTGs can be used as a vehicle to bring forest owners in contact with professional foresters (KTG facilitators and Teagasc advisors).
This scheme is subject to an ongoing Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA) process.
The Minister therefore reserves the right to revise the terms and conditions of this scheme in accordance with the relevant findings.
Applicants may therefore be required to “opt-in” to any revised terms and conditions before a decision is made on their application.
Each KTG can have a maximum of 20 participants and each participant will need to attend 7 meetings or outdoor events in order to complete the programme. Participants who have not taken part in a Forestry KTG in the previous three years, can be invited to participate in this KTG round. Participation in other agriculture KTGs does not impact on participant’s eligibility to take part in Forestry KTGs.
KTG payments are broken down as follows:
| Payee | Reimbursement/grant payment | per € |
| KTG Participant | Meeting attended | €80 per meeting |
| KTG Organiser | Per KTG organised | €7,400 per KTG |
A total of 7 meetings and events will be organised per KTG – the maximum payment to each participant is €560.
An evaluation process will apply to ensure that only applications to organise a KTG that reach a minimum standard are considered. Applications will also be ranked if the scheme is over subscribed.
Each KTG application received will be rated according to the following criteria:
All applicants will be ranked according to the marks awarded. Available KTGs will be distributed 50:50 between forestry producer groups and forestry companies/forestry consultants.
Further details a copy of the Scheme Terms & Conditions and the Form A application can be downloaded from the department’s website at: Forestry Knowledge Transfer Group Scheme.
Completed applications must be emailed to: forestryktg@agriculture.gov.ie by 4pm on 14 August 2023.