AQW 19284/17-22

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 21/05/2021
Answered On Date: 05/07/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to outline the steps his Department is taking to increase tree planting targets in line the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation of at least 17% tree cover across the UK by 2050.

Answer:

My Department requested advice from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) on how Northern Ireland could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Their report entitled “Reducing emissions in Northern Ireland” (CCC, February 2019) recommended that the Northern Ireland contribution to 2030 would be around 900 hectares of woodland per year.

In March 2020, I announced the Forests for Our Future programme which aims to create 9,000 hectares of new woodland by 2030. I revised the Forest Expansion Scheme and opened a new Small Woodland Grant Scheme to increase the rate of planting towards this target. The Forest Service Business Plan for 2021/22 includes a target to plant 600 hectares of new woodland, which is more than double the 250 hectare target of the previous year. Forests for Our Future planting targets set in subsequent business plans will be the basis on which NI will contribute over the next decade to increase UK woodland cover from 13% towards the CCC scenario for 17% tree cover at a UK level by 2050 to reach a net-zero carbon aim.