Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Andrew Doyle T.D., today announced the opening of the Forestry Knowledge Transfer Group (KTG) Scheme 2019.
Minister Doyle said,
The Forestry KTG Scheme 2018 was very successful, with positive feedback from the over 600 farmers and forest owners taking part all over the country. I am therefore delighted to open the Scheme again for 2019 and hope to see a similar level of participation this year. Knowledge transfer groups are a well-established method of sharing knowledge and best practice. They provide participants with the essential tools to mobilise their valuable timber resource and help to maximise the income from their holding.
Forestry KTGs are for private forest owners seeking additional knowledge and enabling them to know when and how to carry out forest management activities in a safe manner. KTGs are peer-to-peer discussion groups led by a professional forester and will encourage participants to engage with forestry groups and professionals.
Forestry companies, consultants and producer groups are invited to organise Knowledge Transfer Groups. Forest owners will then be sought to participate in the groups. Forests across Ireland are fragmented, with the average size just 8.8 hectares. The Minister added,
Forestry KTGs assist with organising management activities into larger management units, with forest owners cooperating to maximise scale. I encourage those participating in Forestry KTGs to continue to meet after the Scheme has ended, either informally or to form a forest owners’ or producer group, to continue to reap the benefits of their learning.
Editor Notes:
KTG participation
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. The scheme is only open for those who have not previously participated in a forestry KT group.
KTG payments
KTG payments are broken down as follows;
Payee | Reimbursement/grant payment per | € |
KTG Participant | Meeting attended | €70 per meeting |
KTG Organiser | Per KTG organised | €6,500 per KTG |
A total of 7 meetings and events will be organised per KTG – the maximum payment to each participant is €490.
KTG evaluation
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 in the event that the scheme is over subscribed.
Each KTG application received will be rated according to the following criteria;
- How client base/membership/future participants would benefit from membership of your KTG(s);
- Capacity/experience of each KTG organiser to run the KTG programme;
- Extent of previous knowledge transfer activities (list field trips, seminars, publications etc.).
- Promotion strategy to attract inactive forest owners to the KTG.
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 and application forms can be found on the DAFM website at: https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/forestservice/grantsandpremiumschemes2015-2018/