Forestry Strategy event

We spoke to Bob Frost, Head of Scottish Forestry's Forests for People team to find out what it was all about and why Scottish Forestry wanted to get everyone together.

Bob, can you briefly remind us of what the Forestry Strategy is and what it aims to achieve? 

In a nutshell, Scotland's Forestry Strategy 2019 to 2029 was published in 2019 and gives everyone a 50-year vision for how we can collectively expand, protect and enhance Scotland’s forests and woodlands.

The main aim is to make our forests and woodlands work for everyone to provide greater economic, social and environmental benefits to Scotland’s people.

Is this a Strategy just for Scottish Government and Scottish Forestry? 

No, it’s for everyone in Scotland. More than 70 delivery partners are involved in delivering the Strategy, from all kinds of forestry interests such as health, access and recreation, nature and climate change, communities, farmers and the commercial sector, as well as a range of Government agencies.

Together, a lot has been achieved in these first six years of the Strategy. Across Scotland, over 55,000 hectares of new woodland has been created, of which 20,000 hectares is native. That’s pretty good going considering the disruption caused by Covid, winter storms, Brexit, and of course, tight funding budgets.

Is this a Strategy just for Scottish Government and Scottish Forestry? 

No, it’s for everyone in Scotland. More than 70 delivery partners are involved in delivering the Strategy, from all kinds of forestry interests such as health, access and recreation, nature and climate change, communities, farmers and the commercial sector, as well as a range of Government agencies.

Together, a lot has been achieved in these first six years of the Strategy. Across Scotland, over 55,000 hectares of new woodland has been created, of which 20,000 hectares is native. That’s pretty good going considering the disruption caused by Covid, winter storms, Brexit, and of course, tight funding budgets.

Scottish Forestry came into existence the same year as the Strategy was published. How have we helped to deliver the Strategy since 2019? 

Scottish Forestry has worked hard to support all the different aspects of the Strategy.

We’ve assessed and approved 65,000 hectares of new woodland, including 32,800 hectares of native. We’ve also assessed and approved forest plans covering 193,000 hectares and granted 5,625 Felling Permissions.

During the same period, Scottish Forestry has made over £200 million available to support woodland creation, contributed £7 million to 50 partnership projects for sustainable forestry, surveyed 1.5 million hectares of woodland for tree pests and diseases every year, and helped 750 vulnerable adults through our Branching Out programme.

We’ve also made some of the most fundamental and positive changes to the Forestry Grants Scheme since it was introduced and published key route maps to support woodland creation and increase resilience in our forests. And of course we worked with the other UK governments to introduce the new UKFS.

The list could go on but that’s a quick snapshot. I would emphasis none of this would be possible if it wasn’t for the collaborative work with partners across the forestry sector.

This includes partnership projects that are using drones and satellite imaging to help fight tree pests and diseases through state-of-the art tree health monitoring, trials of electric timber lorries, and the Climate Forests Initiatives in central Scotland.

Why did we need to gather stakeholders together now to discuss the Forestry Strategy?

We’re just over halfway through the lifetime of the Forestry Strategy – it runs until 2029 - so this is a good time to look at how we are all delivering it. The Strategy’s vision is for 50 years, until 2070, so we want to make sure that progress is being made.

It made sense to get everyone together to share what is working well and also identify any areas that need more emphasis.

Who attended the event – did it include other land use sectors?

The people attending had a very broad range of forestry interests, and there were also experts from farming, communities, wildlife, access, climate change, science and business.

We were delighted to hold the event at the Forest Research Northern Research Station at Roslin. The building was recently renovated, and it was a great venue to showcase the fascinating range of scientific work being done by Great Britain's principal organisation for forestry and tree-related research.

The Forest Research CEO, James Pendlebury, gave a welcoming speech which reminded everyone of how important that robust science and evidence should continue to underpin the policy and practice decisions we make as foresters. The new annex in the building was a fantastic place for the event to have a ‘delivery marketplace’, where a number of Strategy partners had displays showcasing their innovative projects. It was a real talking point and immediately set the tone of the day as positive, creative and well-informed.

Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon gave the opening address – what was her main message?

Ms Gougeon was keen to take stock of where we are after six years of the Forestry Strategy being in operation. She said she wanted our forests to be a vital, resilient resource and most importantly, fit for the future.

In her speech she stressed that despite so many very difficult challenges over the past years, a great deal has been achieved, and we should celebrate that.

A key message was also that Government alone can’t achieve what is needed, so it is imperative that the sector contributes helps to make the vision for Scotland’s forests in 2070 a reality.

There were a number of case study presentations – what did they cover?

Yes, our CEO, Paul Lowe, introduced a session to showcase how four different organisations are interpreting the idea of sustainable forest management and delivering the Strategy.

The case studies were inspiring – on biodiversity gains at Abernethy Forest (presented by Scottish Environment Link), community action at Tarras Valley Nature Reserve (Community Woodlands Association), a woodland creation scheme designed to produce sustainable timber in Perthshire (Confor), and how a public owned forest at Devilla in Fife is delivering multipurpose forestry (Forestry & Land Scotland).

What opportunities were there at the event to hear from others, and what key points were raised about sustainable forest management and delivering the Strategy? 

Hearing from others was a crucial point of the event.

After the case study presentations, an expert panel was invited to give their reflections on the first few years of the strategy. Ms Gougeon chaired this, hearing the views of Community Woodlands Association, Confor, Forest Research, Scottish Environment Link, and the Chief Forester for Scotland.

Three main points were shared by the panel – and it was great to see the mutual opinion.

First, there’s a challenge of capacity within the sector.

Second, conversations about forestry, and especially woodland creation, need to be shaped by mutual respect and robust science, to stop frustrations building and debates being polarised.

And third, everyone recognised the importance of managing forests sustainably to continue to deliver the wide range of benefits we expect.

In the afternoon, we ran three workshop groups to give everyone the chance to identify the main strategic opportunities and challenges that could be addressed over the next five years in order to realise the Strategy’s 50-year vision, and to suggest what actions their organisation could take to help realise these opportunities and address the challenges.

Overall – were there some main themes emerging from the meeting?

The final plenary session gave a chance for Paul Lowe to reflect on the day’s main themes.

There was widespread recognition of the need for stronger collaboration and communication about the benefits of forestry, so we can engage the public better and also counteract misrepresentations about what modern sustainable forestry is.

Also, that further work is needed to address capacity issues in terms of the number of forestry professionals, and to ensure those working in forestry have the right skills to deal with the evolving challenges of a changing climate and tree pests and diseases, so that the social, economic and environmental benefits of forestry can continue to be realised.

What next – are there any main actions to take away?

Soon we’ll produce a note of the event, share it with participants and publish it on our website. 

Then, in the coming months we’ll revisit key themes and ideas shared at the event with the National Forestry Stakeholder group, to help inform the development of the next Strategy Implementation Plan.