Written answers

Tuesday, 13 July 2021

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Sector

Photo of Michael LowryMichael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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612. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 332 to 334, inclusive, of 30 June 2021, when he will instruct his Department to seek the necessary permissions in view of his reply that to make the submissions public his Department would first have to seek the permission of the consultees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37395/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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New interim ‘Standards for Felling and Reforestation’ were circulated to the sector in October 2019.  These Standards immediately replaced measures relating to felling set out in the existing standards ‘Forest Harvesting & the Environment Guidelines (2000)’.  The ‘Standards for Felling and Reforestation’ from October 2019 is still the current document today.

This new standards document sets out the standards that apply to all felling (thinning and clearfelling) and reforestation projects on all sites throughout Ireland, undertaken under a felling licence issued by the Department under the Forestry Regulations, 2017 (S.I. No. 191/2017).

When released in October 2019, comments on the document were sought from stakeholders and I understand ten submissions were received.  Many of the comments suggested textual changes to improve the practical implementation of various measures set out in the document.

The Department has, in the past, released submissions from consultees in relation to its consultation processes.  In relation to the consultation process around the Standards for Felling and Reforestation, when requests for submissions were sought, it was not stated that these submissions would be made public.  To now make these submissions public, the Department would first seek the permission of the consultees. 

The Department is committed to updating this document and under the ‘Implementation of the Mackinnon Report’, the updating of Forest Standard documents is a key deliverable under Project Woodland. 

I will be guided by those involved in this work and will consider any recommendation from those involved regarding any consultation process and whether it is deemed necessary to seek permission to publish submissions received over a year and a half ago at this point or whether it be more appropriate to ask for fresh submissions that would be published on the website.

Photo of Michael LowryMichael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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613. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 335 of 30 June 2021, if it is planned to change the current definition of a forest as laid out in his answer (details supplied) in any new forestry regulations or in the proposed scheme to plant trees along rivers and watercourses to act as carbon sinks and interceptors of nutrients currently being prepared; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37396/21]

Photo of Michael LowryMichael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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614. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 336 of 30 June 2021, if riparian planting and any new scheme including REAP to plant trees along rivers and watercourses to act as carbon sinks and interceptors of nutrients currently being prepared in which the size of the planting is less than 0.1 hectares in size cannot be accounted and reported under Ireland’s international reporting requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37397/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 613 and 614 together.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine currently reports and accounts for all forests that meet the definition of a forest as described in the Forestry Act 2014 and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forest (LULUCF) regulation. The definition of a forest is defined as areas which are 0.1 hectares or more in size and which have the capacity to reach at least 5 meters in height and with a minimum canopy cover of at least 20%. Ireland uses this definition as defined in the LULUCF regulation to account for all forest plots that meet this criteria.

Although Individual trees and groups of trees are important for biodiversity and do sequester carbon, they are not recorded against the forest land use categories as defined in the LULUCF regulation. Individual trees are similar to hedgerows in that they can only be accounted in other cropland and grassland categories if there are detailed national inventory data to support their inclusion. Ireland does not account for hedgerows or individual trees specifically but research is ongoing by the EPA and Teagasc to examine methods of potentially including such areas in future inventories.

However, more detailed work is required to determine and map the extent of such features in the landscape which is a significant task. It is also worth noting that, if such features are recorded, Ireland could only account for the additional trees and hedgerows planted. If there were less hedgerows and individual trees recorded than in previous years, Ireland would have to account this as an emission of carbon dioxide.

The Department does not intend to change the definition of a forest and will continue to account for all forests that meet the current definition. Plots that fall below this area threshold may be included at a future date under non forest land use categories and will be informed by existing and further research.

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