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Is the off-road use of a road vehicle in travelling between sites within a forest or plantation, in order to gather seedling survival statistics, 'forestry' for the purposes of section 35 of the Energy Grants (Credits) Scheme Act 2003 (EGCSA)?

Yes. The off-road use of a road vehicle in travelling between sites within a forest or plantation, in order to gather seedling survival statistics, is 'forestry' for the purposes of section 35 of the EGCSA.

An entity is engaged in carrying on a commercial forestry enterprise.

In the course of carrying on the forestry enterprise, the entity establishes and plants several coupes with seedlings which will eventually be felled.

A road vehicle is used by the entity's staff for transport between the new coupes sites for the purpose of carrying out survival surveys of the seedlings in the coupes.

The roads between the coupes are not public roads.

The assessment of the rate of survival is used to decide whether the coupe should be replanted.

The resulting statistics are also used in making decisions relating to the overall management of tree planting and they also are incorporated into the forest management plan to provide a basis for improvements to ongoing forest management.

'Forestry' is relevantly defined in section 35 of the EGCSA as follows:

The expression forestry means: (a) the planting or tending, in a forest or plantation, of trees intended for felling; or (b) the thinning or felling, in a forest or plantation, of standing timber; ...

The surveying of forest coupes to assess survival rates of seedlings is an element in the overall management of the 'planting and tending' of trees in the forest or plantation.

The success of the planting activity and the need for any follow-up replanting can only be determined by means of such a survey. The survey activity therefore falls within paragraph (a) of the definition of 'forestry' in section 35 of the EGCSA, which states that 'planting and tending' of trees is an eligible activity.

The off-road use of a road vehicle in transporting staff between sites in the forest or plantation in order to carry out a seedling survival survey is part of this planting activity and is therefore 'forestry' for the purposes of section 35 of the EGCSA.