Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many felling licences have been issued by Forestry Commission England in each quarter since 2015; and how many hectares those licences cover.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Forestry Commission’s record of the number of felling licences granted and the area of land these covered from 2015 to date is reproduced in the table below.
Period | Number of Licences granted | Area of land covered (hectares) |
2015 |
|
|
Q1 (Jan - March) | 598 | 5083 |
Q2 (April - June) | 523 | 4990 |
Q3 (July - Sept) | 562 | 6384 |
Q4 (Oct - Dec) | 611 | 7398 |
2016 |
|
|
Q1 (Jan - March) | 574 | 17040 |
Q2 (April - June) | 603 | 13036 |
Q3 (July - Sept) | 880 | 13329 |
Q4 (Oct - Dec) | 681 | 14795 |
2017 |
|
|
Q1 (Jan - March) | 942 | 19665 |
Q2 (April - June) | 787 | 15132 |
Q3 (July - Sept) | 799 | 23448 |
Q4 (Oct - Dec) | 687 | 13898 |
2018 |
|
|
Q1 (Jan - March) | 694 | 14526 |
Q2 (April - June) | 669 | 13043 |
The above table does not include felling approved on the Public Forest Estate which is exempt from the requirement for a licence or felling approved in legacy English Woodland Grant Schemes.
Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much timber was (1) approved for felling from Forest Plans and Felling Licences, and (2) actually felled, in the last five years.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Forestry Commission’s estimate of volume approved for felling in Woodland Management Plans and Felling Licences in England for the most recent five years for which the information is available is given in the table below.
Year | Volume (Cubic Metres overbark) | Area Licenced (Hectares) |
2012 | 1,388,000 | 25,985 |
2013 | 1,299,000 | 23,641 |
2014 | 1,466,000 | 19,163 |
2015 | 1,734,000 | 23,856 |
2016 | 2,542,000 | 58,198 |
Total | 8,429,000 | 150,843 |
There is no obligation to fell when approval has been granted and approval can be valid for up to 10 years. This means that approval in a given year will not necessarily relate to the felling in that year. In the vast majority of cases where clear felling has been approved there will be a restocking requirement - so the volume and area of felling approved does not correspond to a reduction in woodland cover.
The above table does not include felling approved on the Public Forest Estate which is exempt from the requirement for a licence and is not recorded centrally or felling approved in legacy English Woodland Grant Schemes.
Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the gap between the actual supply of wood coming to the market and the forecast availability of wood over the last two years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Forestry Commission’s 50 year forecast of softwood timber availability for Great Britain estimates that 16.5 million cubic metres of softwood was available for harvest annually in the period 2013–2016. In 2015 and 2016 12.6 million cubic metres of softwood timber was estimated to have been produced.
Hardwood supply chains are relatively poorly developed, which makes it much harder to forecast likely harvesting levels accurately. The ‘50 year forecast of hardwood timber availability’ for Great Britain, which is not based on all broadleaved woodland but only on the area of broadleaved woodland with evidence of recent management, estimated that 0.4 million cubic metres of hardwood would be available for harvest annually in the period 2013 – 2016. This forecast is thought to have been an under estimate of availability because it was estimated that 0.63 million cubic metres was produced in 2015 and 0.66 million cubic metres in 2016. This should not be mistaken for any over exploitation of Great Britain’s broadleaved woodland. This is because this estimated harvest represents less than 12% of the estimated annual increment of 5.7 million cubic metres. The annual increment is the volume of additional hardwood that Great Britain’s broadleaved woodlands grow each year.
Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions ministers have had with forestry stakeholders concerning forestry policy post-Brexit.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Ministers recognise the opportunities that leaving the EU offers a range of forestry stakeholders and have met a number of them. Defra officials have been working closely with forestry stakeholders, including through a recent event organised by the Forestry Commission, attended by more than 100 people representing a wide range of land owner and forestry interests.
Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assesssment of forecast availablity of timber; and what measures they will take to reassess the availability of supply.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Timber availability forecasts are published by the Forestry Commission. The current 50 year softwood availability forecast and 50 year hardwood availability forecast were published in April 2014. These documents include the forecast timber availability in public and private woodlands in five year periods from 2013 to 2061. The Forestry Commission updates availability forecasts periodically. Results from the next update are due for publication in 2020.
Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to redraw grant schemes post-Brexit to create a level playing field between agriculture and forestry projects subject to the suitability of the chosen area for a particular planting scheme.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
On 27 February the Government launched the consultation document ‘Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit’.
Our new agricultural policy will be underpinned by payment of public money for the provision of public goods such as those delivered through forestry. In the consultation document, capital grants are listed as one of the potential elements of a future environmental land management system.
The results of the consultation will help to inform our future policy.
Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to name the National Tree Champion.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
A decision on the appointment of the National Tree Champion will be made in due course.
Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will set out plans to ensure a appropriate balance between productive forest and amenity forest in the new Northern Forest.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Northern Forest will deliver accessible community woodland, boost biodiversity and facilitate improved air quality, and increased physical activity and improved health and wellbeing.
The trees planted in the Northern Forest will be guided by the principle of the right tree in the right place, in line with the UK Forestry Standard.
Discussions about the balance between different forest uses are ongoing between the Government, the Woodland Trust and Community Forests Partnership, and other stakeholders. An announcement will be made in due course.
Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) any environmental impact assessment regulations, and (2) the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, permit the removal of scrub and the burning of gorse between 1 and 8 August without the written permission of Natural England; and if so, whether those carrying out such removal and burning receive grants.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2007 govern the burning of heather, rough grass, bracken, gorse and vaccinium. The period 1 to 8 August is outside the burning season set out in the Regulations. For upland areas the season is 1 October to 15 April and for areas outside the uplands it is 1 November to 31 March. However, Natural England (NE) is able to grant licences for burning outside these dates if certain conditions and requirements are met.
Other legislation will also generally apply to the removal of scrub and the burning of gorse. For instance, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits any activity, including burning, that disturbs or destroys wild birds and their nests or other protected plants and animals.
Where farmers are claiming payment under the Basic Payment Scheme, as a condition of payment they will also have to comply with the requirements of the Heather and Grass Burning, etc, Regulations, including the relevant closed periods for burning.
Options which apply to the control or management of scrub and gorse for the benefit of the environment are available for farmers and other land managers in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. These include the management of moorland and lowland heathland. These options take into account relevant legislative provisions. If a Countryside Stewardship agreement holder wished to carry out burning, they must follow The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2007. Advice is available from NE or from the Forestry Commission for woodland.
Asked by: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government from which countries timber with bark for firewood has been imported into the UK in the last five years.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs collect and publish National Statistics for the United Kingdom on the level of imports of woodfuel under commodity code 44011000: ‘fuel wood in logs, billets, twigs, faggots or similar forms’. No record is made to differentiate the presence or absence of bark on imports of woodfuel.
Figures for 2011-15, the latest figures for which complete data is available, are shown the Table attached.
We recognise that wood can be a pathway for the introduction and movement of harmful plant pests. That is why a new Statutory Notification Scheme for importing solid woodfuel (firewood) came into force on 1 January 2017. This requires importers bringing firewood into England and Scotland from outside the UK to provide the Forestry Commission with at least three days’ prior notification of its arrival if it is coming by sea, road or rail, and four hours’ notice if arriving by air. The Welsh Assembly Government is expected to introduce a similar regulation.
The scheme will enable the Forestry Commission to gather information about the firewood importing trade, and to carry out risk-based and random inspections of a selection of imports. This will help to ensure that the firewood or its associated wooden packaging meets British plant health landing requirements.