Masterplan demand to replace 'Lord of the Flies battle' to find Scottish tree planting sites

Forestry leaders have said there needs to be a “masterplan” for tree planting in Scotland’s countryside as the nation is set to fail its target for another year.

According to Forest Research, just over 15,000ha of trees were planted in Scotland in the past year, with the Scottish Government target being 18,000ha.

Land with natural capital potential dropped 44% to £3,100 per gross hectare in Scotland, according to the report, which industry leaders say was distorted by a couple of highland estates offered at relatively low prices | Supplied

UK-wide, just over 20.7ha of trees were planted against a target of 30,000ha a year - a goal set in 2020.

Xander Mahony, head of forestry investment for Tillhill, said there was still the desire for planting, but the process was restricted due to the complicated application process.

He told The Scotsman getting the roots in the ground were also blocked because “people don’t like land-use change”.

“A lot of the land is farmland, so you have have farmers saying they don’t want it pushing out farming, while at other sites you have people protecting the existing biodiversity of the grassland or archaeology,” he said.

“There are all sorts of different stakeholders who resist you and that’s what’s stopping tree planting happening.

“It’s a Lord of the Flies, site-by-site battle at the moment. There needs to be a masterplan for the countryside with people thinking we need more trees, so where should they go?

“We try and find the lowest risk sites, but it’s still a challenge.”

Mr Mahony’s comments were echoed by Jon Lambert, a partner at forestry company Goldcrest, who said the failure to reach Scotland’s tree planting target was often to do with the lengthy application process with the Scottish Government.

Mr Lambert said: “A very large part of the challenge of getting those hectares planted is getting the permission. Taking three years to come up with a decision is just desperate.”

on Lambert, a partner at forestry company Goldcrest | Goldcrest

Mr Lambert previously said the negative perception of Sitka spruce, the more popular conifer used in commercial forestry, needed to change if the country was to meet its tree planting targets.

He said this was also important for the UK to reduce its reliance on timber imports. Earlier this year, the forestry sector said Britain was the second-largest net importer of timber in the world after China.

Sitka plantations have drawn criticism over the years for establishing monocultures across land that could have seen alternative use, including the return of native trees.

There have been concerns the plantations are less resilient to disease, severe weather and longer-term climatic shifts, and that mixed species with a healthy component of native species should survive better.

Campaigners have regularly pushed back against predominantly non-native Sitka forests over concerns for the impact the plantations could have on the environment, including peatlands. Farmers have said the dark forests attract predators, posing a threat to livestock, and take up land suitable for food production.

Stobo Hope, where campaigners forced the planting of a commercial forest on black grouse moorlands in the Scottish Borders to be halted after taking the decision to court over environmental concern. | Supplied

Earlier this year, campaign group Stobo Residents Action Group (SRAG) forced the planting of a commercial forest on black grouse moorlands in the Scottish Borders to be halted after taking the decision to court.

The legal challenge by SRAG against the government-backed woodland creation scheme in Peeblesshire led to operations being stopped, with the case currently under review by Scottish Forestry.

The comments on tree planting targets come as Scotland’s natural capital potential showed up poor in the latest Forestry Market report, released this week.

Figures showed natural capital opportunities south of the Border increased, with England seeing a rise of 16 per cent to £14,500 per gross hectare, and Wales an increase in 7 per cent to £18,100 per gross hectare.

However, the paper showed Scotland, which continues to dominate the commercial forestry market with a 79 per cent of the market share, saw its land with natural capital potential drop 44 per cent to £3,100 per gross hectare.

Forestry leaders said this figure was “distorted” by “an unusually high proportion” of northern Scotland properties, which are typically lower in value due to the distance from core timber markets, up for sale at relatively low prices over the past year.

The report said there was a shrinking supply in planting land available for sale in Scotland, which saw a drop of 40 per cent to 1,600ha, as availability of land suitable for commercial forestry continued to tighten despite sustained demand.

Figures this year, however, show land prices in Scotland stabilised at around £10,000 per gross hectare. This was a contrast to the years 2021 and 2022 when land prices spiked following an acceleration of applications for natural capital schemes to the Woodland Carbon Code, a UK-government backed body that oversees woodland creation projects. The value of hill land quadrupled and that of estates trebled from 2018 to 2021.

In the last year, Scottish Forestry, the public body responsible for forestry policy, support and regulations, confirmed funding contribution to woodland planting schemes was gradually being reduced in Scotland, with large commercial schemes already receiving lower rates of grant compared to smaller farmer and native schemes.

A Scottish Forestry spokesperson said: “It is widely acknowledged that the UK as a whole remains adrift of the 30,000ha per year new planting target, achieving just over 21,000ha last year. These same figures show that Scotland created the highest level of new woodlands for the past 34 years at over 15,000ha, some 75 per cent of all the new woodlands in the UK. This was a remarkable achievement.

“It is common knowledge that a highly challenging public sector budget in Scotland this year, in combination with a nearly 10 per cent cut in the capital budget provided to Scotland by the previous UK government, means that we will not hit this same level this year. We currently anticipate that we will create around 9-10,000ha in 2024/25, which will still be the lion’s share of planting in the UK.

“The woodland carbon market in Scotland has expanded rapidly in recent years with the projected amount of CO2 removals from Woodland Carbon Code projects almost quadrupling since 2019. There has been some cooling in the market in the past two years – as has happened globally – but there continues to be significant growth. The number of Woodland Carbon Code projects rose by over 100 in 2023/24 to reach 914 at the end of March 2024.”