lookin for advice and info on getting into the irish forrestry game...

uscias

hi everyone,

basically like the title says i wanna get into the forrestry scene here in ireland.

i'm an irish/canadian treeplanter with 7 seasons under my belt out in canada. i would usually be out there again now planting away till august but had to stay in ireland this summer for various reasons. i know that there's work goin on here planting in ireland but i just dont know how to get involved. what websites? forums? people to talk to?

basically is anyone of ye a forrester who knows how it's all run here? who i should contact? or if there are any other similar forums you can redirect me to?

ideally i'd like to get in touch with the sub-contractors on the planting or thinning contracts... the manual labour stuff... but i've experience as well as a forrestry tech.

you can pm me or respond here if anyone else is interested.

John_F

alot of adverts in press to get land into forestry, most of the grants for forestry have been cut back but there is still money available which makes it viable here as smaller plantations, some of the companies that more or less manage the forest but out source the work are

sws forestry http://www.swsforestry.ie/index.php?pageID=2

the forestry company http://www.theforestrycompany.ie/

coillte (semi state i think??) http://www.coillte.ie/

forestry services ltd http://www.forestryservices.ie/

greenbelt http://www.greenbelt.ie

assoc of irish forest consultants http://www.aifc.ie/index.htm

mid western forestry http://www.ireland-forestry.com/Index.html


prob best to get on to one of these as they will be able to know the sub contractors etc. what kind of climate is canada for trees and what do you think of it here?

uscias

cheers lad... that'll get me started! i'll try and contact all them ones when i can. i had googled some websites and got coillte and that but there's no employment page or anything like that on their website.

forrestry's a much bigger industry in canada and if you're lookin for work out there you just go to the registered forresters websites and there are lots of jobs postings up every day. i suppose there's nothing like that here is there?

i'm not sure what your asking there about the climate for trees? if you mean whats it like to work in then it varies between extremes. i've been out in minus 35 in winter and plus 40 in summer. legally (health and safety) i shouldn't have been but you know how it is.

so what does a general calender year in forrestry look like in ireland? in canada they harvest autumn and winter and then shut down in spring to allow for animals to make babies and all that. also the snow melt makes it difficult for harvesting, lots of water. in spring planting and brushing (thinning) starts up and it that goes on into summer. summer is also fire season so there are fire crews puttin out the forrest fires.

i'm presuming because of the 1 (mild and rainy) season we have here in ireland that planting and harvesting is goin on all year??? there are no scheduled seasons are there? can anyone fill me in on this?

also... are most of the plantations private owned but just managed by the various forrestry companies? or does coillte own there own ground?

i notice alot of plantations up my way in leitrim but they must all be private ones.

any general info i would find most interesting. thanks for the prompt response so far!

uscias

Well this was a complete waste of time. I've seen a few more posts about people looking for work in forrestry so decided to update how my job search went after starting this thread.

So i contacted all the forrestry companies in the sites mentioned in this thread. I also got all the emails and contact info for pretty much every forrester in ireland after looking them up in the forrestry journals in my local library and online. I sent off an email just looking for advice in getting into forrestry here in ireland with my experience and if maybe they knew who i should contact about a job... note that i was only looking for manual labour type work such as planting as i'm not a registered forrester but have alot of experience.

Anyway not one single person replied after over 50 emails.

There is either no work on or forrestry in ireland is all tied up and they all keep the work to themselves... i still have no idea how it works here and how you get a job.

let me know if anyone else had any positive experiences... but i wont hold my breath cos this forum isn't very active anyway.

greenfingers89

Forestry (one "r" not "rr") is nowhere near as busy here as it used to be. people have to be loyal to contractors who are under a lot of pressure so you cant just expect to get work easily. source land for a forester on the condition you get the work, that the best chance id say

uscias

My main goal was to find out how to go about getting some work in forrestry. That's why i contacted all those people. Yes i dont expect to get work easily but i do expect a simple reply to an email with a little advice about how to get started.

What exactly are you saying by the way... i find some land to plant, convince the landowner to put trees there, get a forrester to sign off all the paperwork and then i plant away???

i really dont know how the system works... i expected that someone was planting or thinning somewhere and they could use a man with experience.

I appreciate your response. Any info is helpful.

Oldtree

There are few or no jobs going here now given the downturn in the ecomomy since 2008. I dont know if you have seen the news but 450,000 people are on the dole and the total population here in ireland is less then half that of london.

I hear that the economy in canada is doing much better with many lads leaving here and working in the mines, and others finding it easy to get a variety of jobs there.

I do not wish to be rude but the chances of getting any sort of job here is slim, and in a downturn just as I experienced in england a few years ago, people dont reply to CV's as they get hundreds and putting it nicely dont have the spare cash to reply, let alone offer a job interview.

$kilkenny

unforunatly with forestry here the only way to make money is to have a degree in forestry management and go for the private management companys etc, as for planting there are allready alot of people at it aswell as a good few people being laid off.

also planting takes place during the winter here so its the wrong to look for a job with it.

uscias

thanks for response... i'm on a different road now anyway... figured forrestry was dead here a while back.

good to have this thread up in case anyone has similar questions about the industry. was reading similar posts a few days ago so decided to try and update this thread.

radiata

Sorry uscias I'm only after seeing this thread now. I don't know if you've given up on forestry but here's a list of every registered forester in Ireland and where they're located :

http://www.teagasc.ie/forestry/docs/grants/Register_Foresters_150612.pdf

I also emailed about 50 people in forestry to get work with about 3 replies. I even offered to work for free for a while just to get more experience and a better chance of work, also without a reply. And I've also studied it!

Also, what's the money like in forestry in Canada (in planting and general labouring) as I was thinking of moving there to look for work in it. From what I hear it's very good or is that all rumours. I'm guessing it should be easy enough to find work in it?

greenfingers89

radiata wrote: »

I even offered to work for free for a while just to get more experience and a better chance of work

it still costs money even if your working for free, insurance is always an issue but also time investment is crucial nowadays as many foresters are covering larger areas, dealing with a multiple of problems from clients and neighbours and worse again becoming swamped in paperwork

like i said above as well, we have to be loyal to contractors, it wouldnt be very fair to tell a contactor (who is under massive pressure because theres less work about) that your putting a different fella in a site because he'll work for free and wants experience.

if you want forestry work, bring land with you and most foresters will give you the work and pay you, cant see much hope for your situation after that