Minister tackles sheep versus forestry dissent

THE relationship between hill sheep farmers and the forestry industry has not been as smooth as it might be in the past half-century, with blocks of commercial forestry on some of the lower slopes effectively removing some of the inbye land for hill sheep.

Yesterday, the Scottish Government, which has set itself ambitious targets for increasing the country's woodland acreage, announced a stakeholders' group would be set up to try to prevent any future division.

To stress the importance of the issue to the government, the round table discussion group will be chaired by rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead. On a visit to a hill farm outside Crianlarich yesterday, he said: "Scotland's rural land needs to put food on our plates, but also has a huge role to play in tackling the threat of climate change. Balancing competing demands such as these is why we are developing Scotland's first-ever Land Use Strategy."

Outlining his government's forestry planting targets, Mr Lochhead added, "We need to plant trees on 15,000 hectares of land per year to help achieve a 42 per cent reduction in Scotland's carbon emissions.

"We can only achieve this with the help of farmers and other land managers."

He said he knew that some people still saw forestry as a threat. He added: "At next month's round table, we will reassure farmers that we are determined to strike the right balance between competing demands for land by thinking creatively about how best to use this finite resource."

George Milne, who heads the National Sheep Association in Scotland, was present. He wanted to ensure the past system of planting was going to be changed.

Mr Milne believed there was room for both industries to work together with properly fenced woodland that allowed sheep to move to the high hills in the summer and would also provide shelter belts in the winter.

He claimed that, while the forestry sector was seen as a way of combating climate change, the same could be said for the sheep industry. The only problem was that, so far, they had not been given any targets.

The group were visiting Ben More farm, which Grant Jolly bought a couple of years ago. On the 3,000 acres there is a flock of 900 ewes, and the farm also carries 30 cows. Much of the land is very steep and the harshness of the area where an avalanche last month had swept away some of the sheep flock on the lower ground was pointed out to the minister.

Those taking part in the stakeholders' meeting, which will be held on 15 April, include the NSA, NFU Scotland, National Beef Association, Scottish Beef Cattle Association, Tenant Farmers Association, Scottish Agricultural College, Scottish Crofting Foundation, ConFor, UK Forest Products Association, Scottish Rural Property and Business Association, as well as Representatives of the Scottish Government and the Forestry Commission.