Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 May 2022
710. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when consultation on the next forestry programme will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25920/22]
View answerA national shared vision for the future of Ireland's trees and forests and a new Forestry Strategy are currently being developed by Working Group 2 of Project Woodland.
An extensive public consultation process on the new strategy is well underway. Bilateral stakeholder meetings with members of the Working Group and officials from the Department have taken place over the last number of months. A public attitudes survey and a community engagement survey have already been completed and presented to the Forestry Policy Group. An online public consultation was open from 16th March to 27th April and over 3,000 responses were submitted. Deliberative dialogue in the form of a national event took place over the week ending 15th May.
The new Forest Strategy will underpin a new Forestry Programme for the period 2023 - 2027.
The Department will engage further with stakeholders on the measures that will be considered for the new Programme and details of this engagement will be made available in the coming weeks. The Programme will also be subject to a Strategic Environmental Analysis/Appropriate Assessment process, and this will include public consultation on the draft plans and Environmental Report.
