ConFor lobbies on Northern Ireland forestry bill

ConFor has highlighted the importance of sustainable and increasing supplies of wood to the future of forestry and wood-using businesses in Northern Ireland.

Giving evidence to the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee on a proposed new forestry bill, chief executive Stuart Goodall said, "In recent decades Northern Ireland has seen the growth of a competitive, indigenous, forest-based industry. This is delivering jobs, business growth and helping in the fight against climate change. The new bill needs to enshrine a commitment to promote forest expansion, as well as, to secure and increasing supplies of wood."

The proposed bill would replace the previous 1953 Forestry Act and bring forestry legislation in Northern Ireland into the 21st century. In seeking to deliver its aim of promoting sustainable forestry the proposed Bill also includes provisions to introduce felling licensing and, unlike elsewhere in the UK, to charge for these, and to give the Forest Service powers to control pests and vegetation on land adjacent to its forests.

"Normally we would resist new bureaucracy, such as felling licensing, but with new EU legislation imminent on the legal sourcing of timber, some form of felling licensing is likely to be necessary", said Lord Hamilton, chair of ConFor in Northern Ireland. "However, we are firmly opposed to charging for felling licensing. Such a move would have the perverse effect of reducing forest management and new planting, effectively undermining the central aim of the Bill.

"ConFor believes that the proposed forestry bill should put at its heart the ambitious Northern Ireland Forest Service plan to create an additional 150,000 hectares by 2050. This we believe will underpin the timber sector, guarantee and increase job prospects, and help mitigate climate change."