Environmental impact assessments, or EIAs, can be very costly for poor communities. The department is going to support the afforestation programme by paying for the costs for conducting these EIAs so that licences can be issued to allow planting to proceed. The potential of forestry as a sector is vast and beyond timber; it includes medicinal plants, edible fruits and harvesting carbon credits. To address key issues in this sector, the department has received an allocation of R501,4 million.