Sir, – Forestry licensing bottlenecks have been extensively reported in recent months, with major negative impact on timber production and new afforestation, not to mention climate mitigation. The Department of Agriculture is attempting to speed up the process through additional staffing but that can only have a medium-term impact at best.
I believe more radical actions are needed now. These include an “amnesty” or blanket approval of all existing clear-fell licence applications (appeals objecting to these probably relate more to the principle of clear-felling than to the particular projects); and a similar amnesty for all existing thinning licence applications, provided the applicants commit to continuous-cover management techniques thereafter. These steps would allow a concentration of departmental staff effort on forest road construction approvals and on new afforestation and native woodland planting applications.
Finally, the legislation should be amended to provide a one-off licensing system to cover the complete lifetime management of the forest. There should also be a stipulation that all new commercial afforestation projects must be managed on a continuous-cover basis, not clear-fell.
This would help overcome legitimate concerns about the environmental and visual impact of afforestation on local neighbourhoods, while still supplying vital timber in quantity. – Yours, etc,
PAUL WILSON,
Grange,
Co Sligo.