Two new Forestry Commissioners have been appointed. Dr Olutayo Adebowale, of Manchester, will represent England, and Dr Calum MacDonald, of Lewis, will represent Scotland.
Dr Adebowale, an environmental scientist, runs her own consultancy and teaches industrial environmental management at Liverpool John Moores University’s School for the Built Environment.
Dr MacDonald is vice-chair of a new community-owned company set up to develop a wind farm in the Hebrides and reinvest the revenue in local communities. He was an MP from 1987-2005, and helped to write the 1990 report on Land Use and Forestry for the UK government, and the Land Reform Green Paper, and in 1991 steered the Crofter Forestry (Scotland) Bill through Parliament to its enactment.
Dr Adebowale replaces Dr Victoria Edwards, who is stepping down after six years as a Forestry Commissioner, while Dr MacDonald replaces Andrew Raven, who died last year.
