The Irish forestry industry has undergone a huge turnaround in recent months, as the price of timber has soared to unprecedented highs prompted by growing shortages internationally.

The industry, which employs 16,000 people and is worth over €1.89bn to the Irish economy, is undergoing a revival as the price for logs paid by sawmills has more than doubled. The remarkable changes have prompted a significant boom in the Irish export market and there is now potential for major rural employment in the sector.

Donal Whelan, technical director of the Irish Tree Growers Association (ITGA), told the Sunday Tribune that Irish forestry is "a success story that hasn't been told". "There is massive potential for creating new jobs because we need to more than double the volume of trees planted annually from 7,000 to over 15,000."

COFORD, the Programme of Competitive Forestry Research in Ireland, states that if 15,000 hectares are planted every year, on average 490 direct jobs would be required annually to establish, manage, harvest and process that timber. "Currently approximately 44% of all forest in Ireland is privately owned and there has been a massive upswing in felling licenses, up 85% on last year. It's an excellent thing for the industry and for Ireland because it shows that good planning in the industry is now coming to fruition," Whelan said.

"The timber industry is crying out for more timber and we have over capacity in the industry here. The industry was hit very hard and a lot of harvesting operations closed down, but now the future looks very good for the sector."

In 2007, 60% of the timber grown in Ireland was used in the home market, however today over 90% goes for export, as major forestry operations worldwide have started to run out of wood.

"We are currently importing roundwood to Ireland and this is a good thing in some ways because it adds value to those logs. It is regrettable that we do not have enough of this timber to supply our indigenous sawmills," said Whelan.

The current high prices paid by mills is good news for many Irish farmers, who own 44% of all plantations in the country. They indicate a strong market showing no signs of diminishing soon.