asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will require the Forestry Commission to expend its annual forest health survey as a result of the adoption, on 17 November 1986, of EEC regulation 3528/86, in order to provide a periodic inventory of damage caused to forests by atmospheric pollution.
I have been asked to reply.The aim of the Community scheme introduced by EEC regulation 3528/86 is to establish, on the basis of common methods, a periodic inventory of damage caused to forests, in particular by atmospheric pollution.The EEC forest protection committee set up under this regulation will shortly discuss the gathering, the nature and the comparability of the inventory data. Any changes to the Foresty Commission's forest health surveys will await the outcome of these Community-level discussions.