Vol. 420 No. 9
15 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Energy his views on whether the felling plan issued by his Department is a management plan for Coolattin Woods or a plan for clear felling the woods over ten years having regard to the fact that young oaks would take 30 to 50 years to achieve proper growth surrounded by nursery oak trees; and the reason such a plan has been issued by his Department.
The plan for the rejuvenation of Tomnafinnoge Wood in Coolattin is a proper management plan and is not a plan for clearfelling the woods over a 10 year period. Details of the plan and the way in which it will operate have been widely made available to interested Deputies and other parties and to the Press. The reason such a plan was issued by my Department was because the owners of the woods applied for a felling licence to fell over 2,000 trees, and my Department are of the view that much more than felling was required. The general condition of the woodland has been downgraded over many decades and remedial measures, including felling selected over mature trees, clearance of rhododendron and other infestation, retaining all the existing immature trees and a proportion of the older trees for amenity reasons, and above all restocking the wood with an adequate number of new trees — mainly oak — was necessary to ensure its continued development as an excellent woodland for the benefit of future generations. The plan provides that felling, remedial work and restocking, where necessary will go hand in hand on a phased basis. The end result over a period of at least 10 years is that out of 20,000 trees of different ages in the wood at present, some 2,000 would be felled, 18,000 retained and restocking with new trees will increase the total number of trees to 150,000 varying in age from new plants to trees over 200 years old. I wish to emphasise that this is a plan for the proper management and rejuvenation of the woods and not simply a licence for clearfelling, which is of course out of the question.
