Scotland’s forestry businesses have called on MSPs to act as new planting again falls short of government targets.
The latest figures are likely to show that planting levels have fallen to below 3,000ha, largely because of problems ith the government’s grant scheme, the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP).
“All parties support the expansion of Scotland’s forests, yet the latest figures are likely to show we’ve again failed to meet targets for new planting,” said ConFor chief executive Stuart Goodall. “We need action now to tackle problems with the forestry grant scheme and deliver the climate change and investment benefits that new forestry provides.”
A forestry debate was held last week following the environment minister’s recent decision to drop the government’s proposal to lease 25% of the public forest estate. The proposal was intended to raise money to support delivery of government’s target of planting 10,000ha of new forest a year.
Mr Goodall said planting was likely to be 7,000ha below target and forestry businesses were cutting back on investment and jobs were under threat.
