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

I am not in a position to agree this amendment. As I already stated on Committee Stage, for international and national reporting requirements Ireland has defined a forest area as being at least 0.1 hectare as described in the Bill. We are committed to using the same forest definition for reporting to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Food and Agricultural Organisation definition may use 0.5 hectares, but countries reporting to the FAO can use their own definition, with Ireland having adopted the use of a 0.1 hectare threshold.

It is worth noting that a number of other member states, including the UK, use the 0.1 hectare threshold for reporting purposes under the UN framework. Some other countries define forest areas at a lower threshold than 0.1 hectare, for example, the Czech Republic and Austria. Changing the definition would mean that all carbon stocks previously reported to the UN would have to be revisited, as well as an estimate being provided to the European Union in regard to projected levels of carbon sink. The 0.1 hectare threshold is also the minimum area where consent is required for all proposed afforestation projects as described in Ireland's forest consent assessment regulation 2010.

The area definition should also take into account the fact that this Bill describes trees as either inside our outside forests. If the threshold were lowered, it would mean that all areas below 0.5 hectares could be removed without either a licence or a requirement to replant.

From the point of view of Ireland, with its historically low levels of forest cover, it is important to record as many forests as possible. Reducing the threshold would facilitate deforestation and result in a potential loss of biodiversity. In many cases, small woods interlink with and adjoin the massive network of hedgerows in Ireland and are an integral part of our landscape. As stated previously, my Department has provided grant aid since the early 1990s in respect of broadleaf woodlands which meet the threshold of 0.1 hectare. Many important areas of woodland along rivers and valleys are small in size, and an upward movement in this threshold could result in their being deforested and in no replanting taking place. I cannot, therefore, accept the amendment.

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