Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I cannot agree to the amendments. The "Rio forest principles" is the informal name given to the Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests 1992, a document produced as an annex to the report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED, also known as the Earth Summit, which took place in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. It is a non-legally binding document that makes several recommendations for conservation and the sustainable development of forestry.

The Government is committed to the advancement of sustainable development in Ireland, as evidenced by the publication by my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, in June 2012 of Our Sustainable Future: A Framework for Sustainable Development for Ireland. As the Minister explained at the Rio+20 conference, this framework is based on a joined-up, whole-of-government approach to firmly embedding sustainable development principles in policy formulation and decision-making across all sectors. It sets out a pragmatic set of measures designed to improve quality of life for current and future generations, with clear responsibilities and timelines set out in an implementation plan. It includes a commitment to continued support for the sustainable development of the forestry and forest products sectors.

Ireland is a signatory country to the Forest Europe process and the Government is an active participant in the ongoing intergovernmental negotiating committee, INC, to develop a legally binding agreement on forests in Europe. The negotiating parties in this process have concluded that should final agreement be reached, there will be a clear reference in the preamble to non-legally binding instruments on all types of forest and the four global objectives on forests, an instrument which builds on and makes reference to the Rio declaration on the environment and development and the Rio forest principles. Given this, there is no need to include a specific reference to the Rio forest principles in the Bill.

With regard to including a definition of "sustainable forest management", SFM, as defined in the Rio forest principles, there is no universally agreed definition. Sustainable forest management is not a fixed concept. The definition will invariably evolve over time to reflect the changing values of society. The most widely intergovernmentally agreed language on SFM is represented in the non-legally binding instrument on all types of forest of the United Nations Forum on Forests, UNFF, which reiterates the definition in the Rio forest principles. However, in Europe the most widely accepted definition of SFM is that developed by the Forest Europe process which has since been adopted by the FAO.

It defines sustainable forest management, SFM, as "the stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfil, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems". Ireland is a signatory to the Forest Europe process and has already integrated its definition of SFM in our national forest standards.

Discussions are under way in the Forest Europe process on the criteria and the quantitative and qualitative indicators used to promote sustainable forest management and to facilitate the evaluation of progress towards attaining same. The outcome will also have a bearing on any future evolution of the definition.

The Government is an active participant in the ongoing intergovernmental negotiation committee on developing a legally binding agreement for forests in Europe. The negotiating parties have concluded that, should a final agreement be reached, the Forest Europe definition will apply to all signatory states. Consequently, there is no need to include another definition, or indeed any, of SFM in the Bill.