Mr. Gerard Murphy:

As regards our overall management, we strive to do things from a sustainability point of view. We are seeking all the time to balance the economic, social and environmental elements of the estate in a way that makes sense. In the last few years we have been certified independently by the FSC and the PFC to try to achieve that balance. We have a number of policies on our management of the estate.

For example, 20% of our estate is managed primarily for biodiversity. We recognise that there are areas we need to manage primarily. They are not limited to native woodland, but include open spaces and a range of other material. Approximately 15% of the trees we plant every year are broadleaf. That is not on an area basis. Not only do we plant dedicated areas with broadleaf trees, we plant them in buffer zones. Deputy Boyd Barrett mentioned water protection. Where we are managing conifer plantations, we create buffers in sensitive stream areas with broadleaf trees to mitigate the possibility of acidification. We use best practice to manage these areas to minimise the environmental impact, including acidification.