Covid-19 Coronavirus

Department publishes details of its submissions to the Environment and Infrastructure Policy Review Committee (1)

Friday, 10 January 2014

As part of the disease control measures required in reducing the risk of further spread of this destructive disease, the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture is to engage a UK contractor with specialist equipment and the necessary experience to increase the speed of felling areas of infected larch on the Department’s forest estate.  

Existing timber harvesting, by local contractors, of infected and non-infected material will continue, providing material for processing and marketing through the Department’s sawmill, so customers should not be significantly inconvenienced by these measures. 

Commencement of the additional felling operations is intended for the week commencing 13 January 2014 with Tholt-y-Will Forest identified as the first area of felling and then probably Axnfell Plantation. Selection of the next working areas will be decided as the current worksite nears completion and assessed to maximise disease control. 

The work will consist of a combination of whole tree mulching (where the tree is mulched from the top down whilst standing) and tree shearing (where the whole tree is cut at its base and presented for future efficient processing and removal from site). From a disease management perspective this is the minimal requirement. Processing of the felled timber for onward utilisation can be carried out later but will require the removal of all bark, heat treatment or peeling followed by tanalisation. 

All forests remain open to the public for their enjoyment, with the exception of areas where felling operations are ongoing, when certain areas or the whole forest will be closed. The Department continues to encourage the public to adhere to some simple biosecurity measures, for example; cleaning footwear, tyres and wheels etc. on leaving an area but definitely before visiting a new woodland/forest or upland area; do not remove wood material from the forest or woodland and utilise constructed footpaths or roads (resist the urge to walk off-piste). Organised event requests can still be submitted, however, depending on the intended area of use, biosecurity measures may be a conditional requirement.   

As an underlying principle the Department encourages and supports responsible access to the countryside. To ensure areas remain available for the long term, biosecurity advice and potentially some temporary access restrictions will be necessary. 

The continual fight against this disease has meant that much of the recently harvested timber has not been suitable for some important markets, such as the provision of retail and wholesale firewood. The Department will continue to support these important markets and as such has made available heat treated wood and is actively harvesting non-infected spruce timber to ensure a supply to customers.  

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