The Minister of State for forestry, Pippa Hackett has announced that she has asked the project board of Project Woodland to immediately commission an independent external regulatory review of the forestry licensing process.
Last Thursday (June 24) Minister Hackett chaired the fifth meeting of the Forestry Policy Group which oversees the implementation of Project Woodland.
She said that the request for such a review had emerged from the stakeholder-led Project Woodland Working Groups.
Project Woodland board
The minister said: “I am very pleased with the progress made by the Working Groups since we established the project just four months ago.
“That is a very short timeframe considering the difficult task they have taken on, but they have really hit the ground running. Indeed they have submitted first draft proposals on a series of issues which will now be considered by the project board with a view to implementing some of the aims of Project Woodland.”
The proposals referred to by the minister range from ones on reviewing the regulatory process to recommendations on dealing with the backlog.
The first draft working documents on the development of the shared national vision for forestry were brought to the policy group.
Commenting on this the minister said: “Our new vision for forestry in Ireland must deliver for the environment, for communities and for industry. So all of these recommendations will be examined carefully by the project board.
“However, the most pressing and urgent is the need to review the regulatory and planning process for forestry licensing with particular focus on how other EU member states approve these processes.
“I have now instructed the project board to immediately commission an external expert to carry out this work”.
Forestry licensing output
The Minister also welcomed the recent improvement in licensing output, with an average of 90-100 licences per week issuing since mid-May.
Minister Hackett reiterated that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is committed to its target of 4,500 licences this year and appointed five new ecologists last week.
The minister also welcomed the progress made by Irish Rural Link who she had commissioned to engage with local communities on attitudes to forestry and future woodland creation.
The minister added: “I firmly believe that the views of communities must be heard and understood. The work of Irish Rural Link undertaking direct engagement will be key to this.
“Work has started on this and stakeholders will be consulted through focus groups to discuss key questions, and the answers will, I hope, point us in the direction of how to encourage positive community involvement in the sustainable development of the forestry sector.”
Project Woodland
Project Woodland was set up in February this year by Minister Hackett with the objective of addressing forestry licensing issues and developing a new national Forestry Strategy.
The main focus of last week’s meeting was to update on progress made by the four Working Groups that form part of Project Woodland as well as an update from the chair of the project board, secretary general of the department, Brendan Gleeson.
DAFM has said that Project Woodland is an “integral part” of its Action Plan for 2021.
Forestry licences
According to the latest data from department, there have been 249 afforestation licences issued between January and May this year, and a further 704 felling licences.
There are still 3,669 licences outstanding including, felling, roads and afforestation.