Tree Felling
(asked on 24th April 2018) - View Source
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.
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.