Trees: From Seed to Sawdust - Episode 3 - From the Forest to the Sawmill
Have you ever seen the letters FSC on a box of tissues or on the wrapping paper enclosing the paper for the printer. In this programme we explore the concept of sustainable forestry management and how the letters FSC and PEFC certify wood products which have been made from forests managed sustainably.
The programme beings on the border between Kilkenny and Laois at a forest which is being thinned by Paddy Bruton's company Forestry Services Ltd. The different lengths of wood being cut from the trees are mostly being processed locally to be used as stakes or in the construction industry, in pulp or made into pallets. All the timber is cut to exact lengths for the sawmills
The programme then moves to Murray's Sawmills in Ballon Co Carlow. The sights and sounds of the busy mill are recorded and the processes of cutting the logs described by John Ryan, Purchasing Harvester and Forester for the company. Outside the mill there are big stacks of timber ready to be sent to the market. The timber is marked FSC - Forestry Stewardship Council - certifying that the timber has come from sustainably managed forests