The organisation, whose membership includes sawmillers, woodland owners and forestry professionals, was responding to the Defra/Forestry Commission one-year update since the government’s response to the recommendations of the Forestry Regulation Task Force.
Confor said it was “vital” that forestry was removed from the scope of the Gangmasters Licensing Act (GLA), as the industry was a low-risk sector, demonstrated by the lack of prosecutions for exploitation of forestry workers.
In April, Defra began consulting on legislative changes to the GLA, with a proposal to remove forestry-only activities from the scope of licensing. Consultation closes on June 21.
“We hope we are in the final stages of forestry being removed from the GLA’s remit,” said Confor’s England manager, Caroline Harrison.
“It was a long and difficult struggle to get to this point and Confor is continuing to keep up the pressure.”
Report highlights include more action on tree health (such as Defra commissioning a £2m research programme into tree diseases) and bringing more existing woodlands into active management.
The government recently set out ambitious targets for significant increases in the area of woodland in active management – 66% by 2060.
Woodland under active management increased by 1.9% to 53% in 2012. Confor expressed anxieties about forestry grants going digital, saying the track record for such “improvements” was not good.
