Plans to rent out swathes of Scotland's forests win MSPs' vote

SCOTTISH Government moves to rent out large sections of Scotland's forests were narrowly approved last night.

A motion by Labour calling for the consultation into the future of Forestry Commission land to be abandoned was in effect defeated by one vote when MSPs backed a government amendment by 62 to 61.

The controversial proposals would see large tracts of land from Scotland's largest landowner, the Forestry Commission Scotland, rented out on 75-year leases.

The measures would appear in the Climate Change Bill later this year after a consultation process.

Opposition MSPs have accused SNP ministers of trying to sell off the family silver, but the Scottish Government has argued it is the best way to pay for increased forestation in Scotland.

The SNP won the day, with the backing of the Conservatives, because several Labour and Liberal Democrat MSPs were missing.

Ahead of the debate, wildlife groups hit out at the plans which could see a quarter of Scotland's forests leased to private firms.

David Grundy, vice-chairman of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, warned that handing over woodlands to the commercial sector could be dangerous.

"We firmly believe that the wildlife living within our national forests will be safer under the expert stewardship of the Forestry Commission Scotland as opposed to a large commercial company which will naturally put economic considerations first," he said.

The message was picked up later in the debate by Labour, who pointed out that the proposal, when put forward by the merchant bank Rothschilds, had even been rejected by former Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher as "a privatisation too far".

Sarah Boyack, Labour's environment spokeswoman, called for a rethink of the plans at Holyrood yesterday.

"They are deeply damaging to jobs, not just in the future but now," she said. "The SNP government must do the right thing: dump these unpopular, ill-thought out, damaging proposals and let us focus on the way forward."

But the SNP accused its opponents of needless scaremongering, although Mike Russell, the environment minister, conceded more might need to be done to provide assurances on jobs.

He pointed out that 1,000 Forestry Commission jobs were lost under Labour in Scotland and he insisted that the proposal was an "imaginative way" of paying for extra forestation.

"There will be no loss of jobs," he said.

"I know it is an unusual concept for Labour to think of trust and ministers in the same sentence. But the reality is there will be no loss of jobs, there will be no loss of biodiversity, there will be no loss of access, there will be no difficulties of the type talked about."

He added: "The reality is there are no downsides for Scotland and none for those who work in forestry."

However, even though the SNP won the day, its principle supporters yesterday, the Conservatives, said they were less than convinced by the proposal. John Scott, the party's environment spokesman, said they were voting to continue the consultation.

The campaign against the plans has been led by the Liberal Democrats, who are collecting signatures on a petition opposing the leases.

Lib Dem MSP Jim Hume hit back at claims his party had been scaremongering.

"This government's proposal to auction off one of Scotland's most prized natural assets for a one-off, bargain-basement sum under the guise that the money could be used for climate change measures, does not add up," he said.

"It is naive at best, and reckless at worst."

BACKGROUND

THE proposal to lease out Forestry Commission land is to be considered in the Scottish Climate Change Bill to come before MSPs this year.

The bill's main purpose is to look at ways of reducing carbon emissions 80 per cent by 2050, with an interim target of 50 per cent by 2030. The Scottish Government agreed to annual targets, but will not set a level for this until 2020.

The bill was brought forward two years early as part of an agreement with the Greens.