Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 May 2021
22. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if prior to March 2021 Coillte has been able to provide generic non-site specific harvest plans with their felling applications; if this has been accepted practice between Coillte and his Department; the number of applications submitted and processed in this manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27065/21]
View answerI am satisfied that each felling licence issued to Coillte is in compliance with the regulatory requirements. There is, of course, an independent third party right of appeal on each licence issued where any member of the public believes that the licence is non-compliant.
Coillte manages an area of approximately 7% of the land surface of Ireland. It intends to harvest approximately 3.2 million cubic metres of timber this year and of this amount year they will supply around 1.725 million cubic metres of sawlog to the sawmilling sector. I am pleased to say that Coillte are fully licensed for 2021. A small percentage of these sites require road licenses that are currently being processed by the Department.
In late 2019, the Department produced a document ‘Standards for Felling and Reforestation’. This lays down standard environmental protection measures that the Department expects all operators, Coillte and private, to adhere to.
Prior to harvesting every site, Coillte produce detailed harvest plans in consultation with the contractor carrying out the work. This details all aspects of harvesting including environment and health and safety etc.
A detailed description of any project is essential when sites are screened in for Appropriate Assessment. A harvest plan is not a legal requirement, but it a process which is kept under continuous review. All applicants, public and private, are encouraged to include them in their applications and Coillte has recently begun to increase the level of detail presented in any harvest plans submitted.
Prior to March 2021, Coillte submitted approximately 900 clearfell applications on average each year with details of the location of the site, the area, the objective of the harvesting site, the regeneration method, the species to be felled and the species to be replanted and other information about the environment. The map accompanying the application highlighted the application area, the location of any nearby European sites, rivers, lakes, SACs, SPAs, NHAs, forest roads etc. This information was deemed sufficient for screened out sites.
However, it is not sufficient for sites that were screened in for Appropriate Assessment. For screened in sites, Coillte then submitted a detailed Natura Impact Statement that provided more detail around the felling and replanting operations. The harvesting information provided included a description of how the timber is to be removed from the forest, techniques for protecting soil while doing so, environmental setbacks and plans for reforestation.
In relation to reforestation, the information provided included the boundaries of the reforestation project as well as species to be planted and ground preparation prior to replanting. The information in the application and NIS was sufficient for the Department to make a decision as to whether the licence should issue.
Plans are adjusted by Coillte to take into account site specific issues. For example, felling might be restricted to exclude the nesting season, while in areas with high amenity interest, replanting species is often adjusted to include more broadleaves.
