Pressure is mounting on the Department of Agriculture to “abolish” its forestry licensing system as an estimated 4,500 applications are still backlogged for processing.
The latest figures show that 2,760 felling applications, 1,009 afforestation applications and 684 roads applications are still awaiting approval.
Last week, the Department published a new report – ‘Project Woodlands’ – which says a revised governance structure at the helm is required to overcome long-running issues which have hampered the sector’s growth in recent years. The report is focused on the implementation of the Mackinnon report on forestry licences which was published in November 2019..
Nonetheless, Professor John Fitzgerald, a leading economist and former chairman of the Climate Change Advisory Council, is urging the Department to “scrap” its current licensing system and replace it with an EPA regulated regime.