Knowledge Transfer

To keep updated about the ContinuFOR project, please follow our account on X: @continufor and #continufor

Some events where the ContinuFOR research project was featured:

20 June 2025 – Biology Research Day, Maynooth University.  Laura won ‘Best Oral Presentation’ for her talk:  ‘Transformation of non-native Sitka spruce stands to Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF): Investigating light-driven responses of underplanted saplings with varying shade tolerance.’

16 June 2025 – IPSAM, University of Galway.  At the Irish Plant Science Association Meeting, Laura gave a talk titled: ‘Transformation of Sitka spruce stands to Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF): Investigating light-driven responses of underplanted saplings.’

15 April 2025 – Talking Timber, Sligo.  This event focussed on harvesting post-storm, and was well attended by forest owners, managers, contractors, and other interested parties.  The event was held in association with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Forest Industries Ireland, and was attended by Minister Michael Healy-Rae.  Dr. Grace Jones disseminated a QR code for a survey as part of Task 6 of the ContinuFOR project.

March 2025 – Peer reviewed Scientific article published!, by Fan Zhang, Kevin Black, and Maarten Nieuwenhuis: Zhang, F., Black, K. and Niewenhuis, M. (2025) Development of regeneration and recruitment functions for Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF). Their article looks at models for regeneration in Continuous Cover Systems, and is open access so free to read online! Forestry Ecology and Management 590: 122793.

14 March 2025- ProSilva conference,  Co. Meath.  Prof. Áine Ní Dhubháin gave a presentation titled: “Twenty-five years of research into CCF in Ireland” and spoke about the ContinuFOR project and predecessors.  The event had a broad range of speakers covering many aspects of continuous cover forestry, with heaps of Irish expertise and experience.  Other partners from the ContinuFOR project also attended.

10 January 2025 – BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, Dublin RDS.  An opportunity to showcase what Grace’s work looks like, for the next generation of researchers and scientists.  There were some excellent forestry student projects too, including remote sensing to detect Rhododendron, deer browsing, and wood treatment.  A lot of interested students with some super interesting work.

-BTS Science Week Ashtown

October 2024 – Forestry and Energy article by Ian Short, Jonathan Spazzi, and Grace Jones published:  Short, I., Spazzi, J., and Jones, G. (2024) Continuous Cover Forestry in Ireland – Informing through research and accessible Massive Open Online Courses. Forestry & Energy Review 14(2): 46-49. This article provides an overview of Ireland’s existing CCF training and research.

19 September 2024 – National Ploughing Championships. Grace attended the Teagasc Forestry Stand.

4 September 2024 – Teagasc thinning event, Frenchpark. “Managing Highly Productive Conifer Forests” – Best Practice Event in Roscommon

11 August 2024 Tullamore Show – Grace attended the Teagasc Forestry stand

26 July 2024 – Teagasc Daily article published: Jones, G. (2024) ContinuFOR project highlighted at IUFRO 2024 Congress.

4 July 2024 – Oak Park Forestry Open day.  Hundreds turned up to hear all about Forestry at Teagasc, and this included Grace giving multiple ContinuFOR talks to different groups.  Situated in a marteloscope site with CCF expert, and member of the ContinuFOR Advisory group, Jonathan Spazzi, the day gave members of the public the opportunity to see what was going on in Teagasc’s forestry development with both researchers and advisors presenting.

28 June 2024 – IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organisations) conference presentations given by Grace and Laura.  Áine and John both chaired sessions. Laura and Grace both presented their respective studies.  Grace presented in the morning about productivity during transformation to continuous cover forestry, and Laura spoke about her work with underplanting for increased biodiversity.  The congress had over 4,000 participants, and was a full week of presentations, posters, displays and excursions.  The sessions were “T3.28 Opportunities to promote biodiversity recovery and protection through innovative forest management approaches”, chaired by John Devaney, and “T1.34 Transitioning to Continuous Cover Forestry in Times of Climate Change and Energy Crisis”, co-chaired by Áine Ní Dhubháin.

-Laura’s talk titled ‘Transformation of non-native Sitka spruce stands to Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF): enhancing biodiversity value of managed forests in Ireland’

-Grace’s talk titled: ‘Transforming Sitka spruce monocultures to continuous cover forestry in Ireland’

14 March 2024 – Talking Timber, Limerick Junction, Co. Tipperary “Planning towards Sustainable Timber Production” event.  Industry and private forestry stakeholders gathered in Tipperary to discuss sustainable forestry options, and the outdoor display of logs was a great conversational piece.  As well as chatting to attendees, Grace had a ContinuFOR poster at the Teagasc stand.

24 November 2023 – Teagasc Daily article published titled: “ContinuFOR project update: four thinnings into our continuous cover trials“, highlighting the field and laboratory work we’ve been doing in 2023, as well as mentioning that we’ve found a site in which to install a third trial! The first two trial sites have both had their fourth thinnings, and in early 2024 we will start setting up the third trial site in Co. Roscommon.

16 November 2023 – 180+ students from primary and secondary level were invited to learn about the different work areas at Teagasc Ashtown. At a stand for Teagasc Forestry with Michael Somers, Dr. Grace Jones discussed her role as a Forestry Researcher and shared what she had been doing in the ContinuFOR project. They discussed opening up the forest canopy to encourage natural regeneration, a key feature of continuous cover forestry, and there was a display model of a house to show timber in use. Grace also demonstrated non-destructive testing for wood stiffness, using the same resonance-based tool that was used at Fossy Hill to test thinnings (HITMAN HM220, fiber-gen NZ).

September 2023 – a IUFRO_2023_ContinuFOR_poster (PDF) and short presentation on the ContinuFOR underplanting study were presented at the IUFRO Uneven-aged forestry conference in the Czech Republic. The poster detailed the results of our first year of tree growth and physiology data from our Dublin Mountains Makeover underplanting experiment in collaboration with Coillte Nature.

September 2023 – Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Newsletter features an interview with Dr. Grace Jones about her current work in Ireland and with the ContinuFOR project.

13 August 2023 – Tullamore Show. An estimated 55,000 attendees at this show, with great engagement at the Teagasc Forestry stand. Dr Grace Jones was there sharing information about forestry research and continuous cover forestry. Her poster focussed on non-destructive testing tools for assessment of wood stiffness, using time-of-flight for both sites, and further planned measurements for Fossy Hill, Co. Laois.

July 2023 – Laura Harris (ContinuFOR PhD) wrote a guest blog for Coillte Nature – “Regenerating Forests In The Dublin Mountains“. As part of the Dublin Mountains Makeover project, some stands of Sitka spruce are being managed under Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF). CCF typically relies on the natural regeneration of trees to restock the forest after selective felling. However, when natural regeneration is low or absent, or there is a desire to introduce a more diverse mix of tree species, underplanting can be used. As part of ContinuFOR, and in collaboration with Coillte, an underplanting research project has started in Cruagh and Ballyedmonduff Woods. The research will determine the relationship between forest canopy openness and the survival, growth, and health of a mix of underplanted conifer and broadleaf tree species.

6 July 2023 – CCF event at Springfield Castle, Co. Limerick. This farm conference/forest walk event was organised by Jonathan Spazzi (Teagasc), and had 90 participants over two sessions. Dr Ian Short gave a project overview and was available for questions and discussions around CCF practices. Attendees included forest owners, foresters, contractors, DAFM inspectors, Coillte staff, architects and more, with content relating to the challenges and opportunities for CCF transformation.

15 June 2023 – Dr Ian Short, Prof Áine Ní Dhubháin and Dr Grace Jones presented the Ballycullen site during the Pro Silva annual meeting in Co Wicklow.  This was part of a three day event focussing on Irish examples of transformation from even-aged stands to more multifunctional diverse forests.  The event had approximately 85 attendees representing 22 countries, so the experiences and perspectives regarding continuous cover forestry were highly varied.

24 March 2023 – Teagasc Daily article published titled: “Transformation of Sitka spruce stands to continuous cover forestry”. This popular news release gave an update of ContinuFOR activities and highlighted that we are now searching for a third site to set up another CCF trial.

25 October 2022 – Dr Grace Jones presented a poster at Teagasc’s Talking Timber 2022 event in County Tipperary.

24 October 2022 – Dr John Devaney presented at the “Sustainability and Climate Action Research” event, Maynooth University.

10 October 2022 – Dr John Devaney presented at the event: “Autumn School on Forests for Health” at Maynooth University.

14 August 2022 – Dr Grace Jones, Teagasc attended the Tullamore Show.

8 July 2022 – Dr Ian Short, Teagasc was invited to attend the National CCF Training Steering Group meeting at the Midway Maldron Hotel in Portlaoise.

5 July 2022 – Dr Ian Short, Teagasc presented in Caherconlish, Co Limerick, at the Teagasc Continuous Cover Forestry Event.

20-22 June 2022 – Laura Harris, Maynooth University presented a poster at the Environ 2022 conference in Belfast.