Targets for forestry hit by delays in grant system

THE Scottish Government's ambitious targets for increasing the acreage of land under trees is still being frustrated by the grants system, according to Stuart Goodall, chief executive of the Confederation of Forest Industries (ConFor).

He said: "While we have made some progress in trying to iron out some of the problems, the system is still far from perfect.

"We still have big delays in getting establishment grants through the Scottish Rural Development Programme. One big consequence is that little more than one-third of the money allocated to forestry expansion has been taken up."

There has been a potential funding pot of 150 million for forestry so far in the Scottish Rural Development Programme, for work in existing forests and new planting.

But Goodall said that only about 59m of this has been committed.

"This means there's been 91m of lost opportunity to deliver government targets for forestry in Scotland."

ConFor believes the money already allocated will only cover about 10,000 hectares of new planting. That acreage is over four years and it means that government is falling far short of its stated ambition to deliver 10,000ha-15,000ha of new forests a year.

"This will have serious consequences in terms of realising forestry's significant contribution to Scotland's ambitious climate change targets."

Another to voice criticism of the current grant scheme is Victor Clements, of environmental charity Scottish Native Woods, which looks after a large number of privately owned woodlands.

He said that many smaller-scale owners were being put off by the expense of having to go through the SRDP scheme: "The costs of preparing applications are off-putting, especially when it is a competitive system and there is a long bureaucratic process to go through."

Clements was also of the view that the current level of SRDP cash would not realise the very ambitious planting targets set by the government, saying: "There is simply not enough cash in the system to do that."

In dealing with another aspect of the increased land required for forestry, cabinet secretary for rural affairs Richard Lochhead brought together representatives from both the forestry and farming in order to sort out the differences between the two sectors.

This move follows concerns expressed by sheep farmers that a major expansion of forestry could adversely affect keeping livestock on the hills through taking out a lot of the land on the lower slopes.

Lochhead called for partnership working, saying that the targets for forestry should not be seen as an issue of farming versus forestry.

Emerging from the meeting, he said that he had been heartened by the enthusiasm of all sectors to work together to balance the competing demands for land, and ensure that the right trees are planted in the right locations for the mutual benefit of all.

Also expressing his optimism that the two sides could work together, NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren said it should be possible to look at how woodlands could be better integrated into agricultural land use without compromising the ability to produce livestock and crops.