A number of organisations in the Irish forestry sector have condemned a decision by the State-owned body Coillte, to sell 12,000 hectares of woodlands to a British investor.
They say that €2.1 billion of taxpayers money is assisting a foreign entity which will ultimately drive those in forestry out of the sector.
A London-based fund, Gresham House, is giving Coillte 200 million euro to try and reach a target of 18 per cent forest cover.
Marina Conway, of the Western Forestry co-op, says this decision will see the death of certain communities around the Country:
"We believe that when forests are part of communities and their local areas, all the benefits associated with that, go into the local economy, go into local areas and the local community. So the forest premium that the farmer gets stays in the area and is spent in the area. So our concern is seeing all that income, leaving rural Ireland".
