"Roots to Prosperity", launched by Defra secretary of state Elizabeth Truss at an event at Egger’s Hexham plant last month, is aimed at the growing, harvesting, processing, storage and supply chain activities of the forest industry, and has been developed by public and private sector partners.
The authors believe £28m of investment in forestry could bring sustainable economic development across the sector resulting in 1,000 new jobs and £54m to the local rural and urban economies. However, the strategy is also seen as vital to the continuity of supply.
"Wood supplies are set to peak around 2025 and that represents a challenge to future investment that we have to respond to vigorously and immediately," said David Sulman, executive director of the UK Forest Products Association."Northern England is the centre of large scale forestry both by the state and privately owned, and there is considerable potential there.
"There is a subtext of an untapped resource in the unmanaged and under-managed estates, but for commercial purposes we have to increase the woodland cover, particularly conifer cover and that means getting more commercial planting under way, especially in the upland areas."
Mr Sulman said Roots to Prosperity was a "prospectus" for further investment, which detailed potential action and investment. Partners included industry groups, the Forestry Commission and the county councils of Northumberland, Cumbria, Durham and North Yorkshire.
Confor CEO Stuart Goodall said: "It has been hugely gratifying to see the commitment to investment provided by the wood processing industry over the last decade. Going forward we must see this matched by an equally enthusiastic commitment from landowners and investors to secure a continuing increase in domestic wood production."
