Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 33
33
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 164
Establish a programme for routine woodland monitoring to ensure UKFS adherence beyond establishment.
Recommendation
Given the importance of the UKFS in ensuring that forests are managed sustainably, we recommend that the Forestry Commission establish a programme for the routine monitoring of woodland to ensure that the standard is being adhered to beyond establishment, adopting new technology to aid this, where feasible to do so.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the need for monitoring UKFS compliance beyond initial establishment, particularly for non-grant aided operations. The Forestry Commission intends to conduct periodic reviews of compliance and explore the future use of Earth Observation and remote sensing technology.
Paragraph Reference:
164
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Most woodland creation in England is supported by grant funding. The application approval process ensures that woodland creation proposals and the early stages of woodland establishment are compliant with the UKFS. There is less certainty around compliance during forest operations that are not grant aided, such as thinning, in existing woodlands. The Forestry Commission recognises this and has recently completed a survey of a small number of sites where forest operations were either active or recently completed. No serious breaches of the standard were found. The Forestry Commission intend to carry out periodic reviews of UKFS compliance, timed to influence future UKFS review processes, and to inform the direction of future research projects that could help improve compliance or address problems that compliance reviews may discover. Earth Observation and remote sensing are already used to establish the impact of large disturbances, such as Storm Arwen in 2021. This technology has also been used to investigate cases of alleged illegal felling, to monitor the presence of invasive species and deer populations. It is very likely that it will be used in the future in forestry inventory and forecast work, tree health surveillance and compliance with conditions associated with felling licences and grant agreements that are required UKFS compliance.