Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 September 2023
237. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration is being given under the new Forestry Programme 2023-2027 to a comparison of the value of biodiversity and flora and fauna of native woodland verses the current habitat’s representation of number and volume of species; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40777/23]
View answerThe new €1.3 billion 2023-2027 Forestry Programme is closely aligned with the 2030 Forest Strategy, and is designed to provide lasting benefits for many key areas, including climate change, biodiversity, water quality, wood production, employment and the provision of amenities.
All applications for approval under the new Afforestation Scheme, which opened for applications on 6 September, will be subjected to a detailed environmental assessment to ensure that any project that is approved will be compatible with the protection and enhancement of the environment. This includes the ruling out of afforestation on sites where the current onsite ecology and biodiversity merit retention as open habitat.
This assessment process includes the application of the Land Types for Afforestation procedures to rule out afforestation on certain peat soils and infertile sites, which overlap considerably with important upland habitats. A number of ecological checks are carried out in relation to onsite ecology, and the potential overlap with ecologically sensitive areas, such as SPAs, SACs, Annex 1 habitats, certain High Nature Value farmlands, and Breeding Wader (including Curlew) sites.
Particular procedures required by environmental legislation – namely Appropriate Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment – are also applied. Furthermore, any project that is approved must adhere to the Environmental Requirements for Afforestation, which set out a number of design and operational safeguards to protect onsite and adjacent habitats, include streams and rivers, hedgerows and areas of scrub.
This assessment process involves the input of my staff, consultation with other statutory bodies and a regime of pre- and post-planting inspections undertaken to ensure that the site details are accurately captured, and that the project is realised in accordance with the terms and conditions set.
The assessment outlined above incorporates new environmental requirements set out as part of the State Aid approval of the new Forestry Programme.
