Stakeholders from nurseries to timber processing are unanimous that 2019 was forestry’s annus horribilis, culminating in a four-month period when felling and afforestation licences came to a virtual standstill.
All stakeholders contacted maintained that the industry was now in crisis, with jobs and livelihoods at risk. Fixing the licensing system was number one on their 2020 list, with the implementation of the Mackinnon review featuring strongly.
Mark McAuley, director of Forest Industries Ireland (FII), the forestry group within Ibec, said: “Licence approvals for thinning and clearfells have effectively ceased since last August and the Department is deliberately withholding information on when licences will be issued.”
McAuley has written to An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stating that the Forest Service “needs to start producing felling licences immediately”. He outlined the steps need to be taken to restore afforestastion and wood mobilisastion. He called on the Taoiseach to “ensure that the protocols and rules that are currently being designed for the new appropriate assessment procedure are fit for purpose and compatible with appropriate and efficient regulation of the sector in the long term”.
In a detailed set of proposals he also called on the Taoiseach to:
Provide the Department of Agriculture with the manpower and resources it requires to start producing a steady flow of licences. Introduce fees to prevent excessive, repetitive appeals with strict timelines for appeals to be heard, and establishing case law and precedents to deal with repeated appeals on the same grounds.Ensure that the protocols and rules that are currently being designed for the new appropriate assessment procedure are fit for purpose and compatible with appropriate and efficient regulation of the sector in the long term. Put in place contingencies to support the sector as it attempts to absorb the financial impacts of the licensing crisis.McAuley says: “The real task at hand is for the Forest Service to get licences moving and get their new system up and running. Without that, we remain in a crisis situation with jobs and businesses at risk.”
Positives in a year of negatives
Both Vincent Nally, chair of the IFA farm forestry committee, and Mark McAuley agree that two positive outcomes emerged in 2019: the Mackinnon review and the role of forestry in climate change.
“The review offers real opportunities to address the current crisis that engulfs the sector and must be acted on with a clear goal to make the application process for all licences – not just afforestation – more user friendly,” Nally maintains. “There is no doubt that farmers have lost confidence in forestry as a land use option, but a critical part of rebuilding trust and confidence will be improving the communication and cultivating a more positive relationship between the Department and farmers.”
Vincent Nally.
With these issues addressed there is hope for 2020 especially as the role of forestry in climate change mitigation has now been accepted in the Government Climate Action Plan, Nally believes. This plan proposes an annual 8,000ha planting programme as one of its 22 specific recommendations.
When the Government reviewed the plan seven weeks ago in its First Progress Report, An Taoiseach proudly proclaimed that 85% of the climate-related actions had been delivered for quarters two and three and the remainder would be delivered by year end.
Yet, when the forestry element in the plan is assessed, there is no mention of the 8,000ha planting programme, which was 50% behind target when the report was published. Likewise, when wood mobilisation and creating a supply of “indigenous biomass” is addressed, the report says that the status of “private forests that are suitable for thinning” and forest roading is “on schedule”.
This is in contrast to the experience of contractors, sawmillers, foresters and Coillte. McAuley said: “Licence approvals for thinning and clearfells had effectively ceased two months before the report was published.”
Yet, An Taoiseach believes the forestry element is achieving the targets outlined in the Climate Action Plan. McAuley’s letter outlining the current licensing crisis is designed to inform the Taoiseach that the 8,000ha programme is unattainable unless this issue is resolved.
Like Nally, McAuley agrees that the acknowledgement of the role of forestry in climate change has been a major development during the year.
However, they also agree with Mackinnon that the political profile and commitment to forestry has to be raised.
This includes elevating “the status for the minister responsible for forestry, [including] forestry in the Department’s name and have the Taoiseach’s department represented on a Forestry Programme Implementation Group”.
Stakeholders from nurseries to timber processing are unanimous that 2019 was forestry’s annus horribilis, culminating in a four-month period when felling and afforestation licences came to a virtual standstill.
All stakeholders contacted maintained that the industry was now in crisis, with jobs and livelihoods at risk. Fixing the licensing system was number one on their 2020 list, with the implementation of the Mackinnon review featuring strongly.
Mark McAuley, director of Forest Industries Ireland (FII), the forestry group within Ibec, said: “Licence approvals for thinning and clearfells have effectively ceased since last August and the Department is deliberately withholding information on when licences will be issued.”
McAuley has written to An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stating that the Forest Service “needs to start producing felling licences immediately”. He outlined the steps need to be taken to restore afforestastion and wood mobilisastion. He called on the Taoiseach to “ensure that the protocols and rules that are currently being designed for the new appropriate assessment procedure are fit for purpose and compatible with appropriate and efficient regulation of the sector in the long term”.
In a detailed set of proposals he also called on the Taoiseach to:
Provide the Department of Agriculture with the manpower and resources it requires to start producing a steady flow of licences. Introduce fees to prevent excessive, repetitive appeals with strict timelines for appeals to be heard, and establishing case law and precedents to deal with repeated appeals on the same grounds.Ensure that the protocols and rules that are currently being designed for the new appropriate assessment procedure are fit for purpose and compatible with appropriate and efficient regulation of the sector in the long term. Put in place contingencies to support the sector as it attempts to absorb the financial impacts of the licensing crisis.McAuley says: “The real task at hand is for the Forest Service to get licences moving and get their new system up and running. Without that, we remain in a crisis situation with jobs and businesses at risk.”
Positives in a year of negatives
Both Vincent Nally, chair of the IFA farm forestry committee, and Mark McAuley agree that two positive outcomes emerged in 2019: the Mackinnon review and the role of forestry in climate change.
“The review offers real opportunities to address the current crisis that engulfs the sector and must be acted on with a clear goal to make the application process for all licences – not just afforestation – more user friendly,” Nally maintains. “There is no doubt that farmers have lost confidence in forestry as a land use option, but a critical part of rebuilding trust and confidence will be improving the communication and cultivating a more positive relationship between the Department and farmers.”
Vincent Nally.
With these issues addressed there is hope for 2020 especially as the role of forestry in climate change mitigation has now been accepted in the Government Climate Action Plan, Nally believes. This plan proposes an annual 8,000ha planting programme as one of its 22 specific recommendations.
When the Government reviewed the plan seven weeks ago in its First Progress Report, An Taoiseach proudly proclaimed that 85% of the climate-related actions had been delivered for quarters two and three and the remainder would be delivered by year end.
Yet, when the forestry element in the plan is assessed, there is no mention of the 8,000ha planting programme, which was 50% behind target when the report was published. Likewise, when wood mobilisation and creating a supply of “indigenous biomass” is addressed, the report says that the status of “private forests that are suitable for thinning” and forest roading is “on schedule”.
This is in contrast to the experience of contractors, sawmillers, foresters and Coillte. McAuley said: “Licence approvals for thinning and clearfells had effectively ceased two months before the report was published.”
Yet, An Taoiseach believes the forestry element is achieving the targets outlined in the Climate Action Plan. McAuley’s letter outlining the current licensing crisis is designed to inform the Taoiseach that the 8,000ha programme is unattainable unless this issue is resolved.
Like Nally, McAuley agrees that the acknowledgement of the role of forestry in climate change has been a major development during the year.
However, they also agree with Mackinnon that the political profile and commitment to forestry has to be raised.
This includes elevating “the status for the minister responsible for forestry, [including] forestry in the Department’s name and have the Taoiseach’s department represented on a Forestry Programme Implementation Group”.
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