When the axe falls within the law

By Mike McKimm BBC Northern Ireland environment correspondent

It is one of those curious bits of the law.

When the bulldozers and men with chainsaws move into the field beside your house early on a Sunday morning and start cutting down all the trees, you know it has been sold to a property developer.

Trees in NI can be felled without a licence

And it can only happen legally in Northern Ireland.

In the rest of the UK and most European states a special felling licence is required.

In the late 1960s, a decision was made in Northern Ireland to abandon the need for licences.

It seems that the law fell prey to pressure from some developers of the day.

By getting rid of the need for a licence they could move onto private land they had bought and cut down any tree not protected by law.

And in this corner of the UK, that usually meant most trees.

For that reason alone, for years, news programmes have been peppered with stories of angry locals protesting over the felling of their favourite woodland.

Often police would look on, powerless to intervene.

Patrick Cregg, Woodland Trust, said there was little tree cover

Unless there were birds nesting in the trees or they had legal protection by being part of a reserve or were designated in some way, they were fair game for those who had reason to fell them.

In some cases, hundreds of trees were felled across land that then lay dormant.

It was just developers making sure they couldn't be outflanked by environmental groups managing to obtain a tree preservation order or some form of control. And in most cases, this was all but impossible anyway, giving those who wish to fell the trees a free hand.

It is all perfectly legal and above board and can only happen in Northern Ireland.

In the rest of the UK, any tree over about six feet requiring the chop needs a felling licence.

If a developer buys a site covered in trees, a licence must be obtained before they can be cut down.

Only people cutting trees down in their own private garden, clearing up orchards or similar situations can do so without the ubiquitous bit of paper.

In rest of UK, you need a feeling licence for trees over 6 ft

But there is a glimmer of light ahead for trees in Northern Ireland.

Their champions, the Woodland Trust, have been lobbying the Agriculture Minister, Lord Rooker, to change the law as part of a forestry review being carried out later this year.

Patrick Cregg of the Woodland Trust said: "The unfortunate thing is that Northern Ireland is bottom of the league when it comes to tree cover.

"We have only 6% and we feel that there is a need for some kind of control to ensure that what little tree cover remains will remain for future generations."

But will it actually happen?

Well, the Department of Agriculture told the BBC that indeed, "felling licences are part of the current forest policy review".

So it could soon be good news for trees.

It could also mean that developers now get a lie in on Sunday mornings.

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