§ The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos):My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made the following Ministerial Statement.
The Forest Service is an executive agency of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland. It acts on behalf of the department for the promotion of the interests of forestry in Northern Ireland, the development of afforestation, the production and supply of timber, and the maintenance of adequate reserves of growing trees. Its functions include the delivery of social, recreational and environmental benefits for the public at large.
I have set the following key targets for the agency for the 2004–05 business year:
To publish a strategy for the delivery of forest policy by December 2004;
To establish 500 hectares of new plantations;
To retain certification under the UK Woodland Assurance Standard;
To replant 750 hectares of land following harvesting;
To produce 400,000m3 of timber for sale to the wood processing sector;
To achieve 400,000 paying visitors to forests.