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Technical note on Forestry and Woodland Strategies

This technical guidance provides information to support Planning Authorities to prepare or update their Forestry and Woodland Strategy (FWS).

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Typical content of a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

FWS are map-based documents which use spatial data and policy information to:

give an overview of the existing woodland in the area
comment on the main issues currently affecting forestry and woodland and those likely to arise in the future
set out the authority’s vision for how woodland and the forestry sector in the area will develop over the period of the development plan and beyond
identify the policies against which proposals for woodland creation and woodland management will be assessed

They must meet the requirements for FWS set out in the legislation.

Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (legislation.gov.uk)

Woodland types in a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

FWS are designed to be broad in scope, including the full range of woodland types across the Planning Authority area. They aim to support the delivery of diverse benefits — including biodiversity, climate resilience, timber production, and community wellbeing — and to contribute to the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan target of increasing forest and woodland cover to 21% by 2032.

This reflects the action in Scotland's Forestry Strategy 2019-2029 that the Scottish Government will ‘support the creation of a range of types and scales of new forests and woodlands using native and other tree species for a range of purposes, including production of timber.’

Scotland's Forestry Strategy 2019-2029

The woodland types that an area can support will reflect regional opportunities and constraints such as landscape and climate. The intention should be for the FWS to support all types of woodland as far as possible. Examples of the woodland types that a FWS might use are given in Table 2

Table 2: Examples of the woodland types that a FWS might use

Used in the Clydeplan Forestry and Woodland Strategy for the Glasgow City Region	Used in the Moray Woodland and Forestry Strategy	Used in the Angus Forestry amd Woodland Strategy
native woodlands mixed woodlands softwood forests energy forests urban woodlands	mainly conifer woodland cover mainly broadleaf woodland cover mixed broadleaf and conifer woodland cover	woodland of High Nature Conservation Value woodland of High Nature Conservation Value (expansion zones) floodplains and areas predicted to flood riparian woodland woodland in and Around Towns other areas with low sensitivity

Areas for new woodland in a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

Indicative maps in the FWS are used to identify areas according to how easily they could accommodate new woodland – areas that are usually termed “preferred”, “potential” and “sensitive” areas.

These areas, and the terms “preferred”, “potential” and “sensitive”, are used to inform decisions on Scottish Government forestry grants.

How do we understand these categories?

These categories are widely understood as:

preferred land - has the greatest scope to accommodate the expansion of a range of woodland types and so deliver a wider range of benefits. Preferred areas are likely to have fewer considerations to address.
potential land – has considerable potential to accommodate future creation of a range of woodland types but with at least one significant consideration to address. The extent to which these can be addressed at the design stage will determine if a woodland creation proposal can be accommodated.
sensitive land - has limited scope to accommodate further woodland creation because of a combination of considerations. Limited expansion might be possible in these areas but only if it is of a scale and character that can be accommodated without significant negative impacts on those considerations and/or where it would positively enhance features of local interest.

Woodland creation grant applications in any of these areas will need to meet the requirements of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) and Forestry Grant Scheme.

UK Forestry Standard (UKFS)

Forestry definitions useful for a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

Other useful definitions related to forestry can be found in the 5th edition of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) and its associated guidelines.

5th edition of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS)

UK Forestry Standard guidance (Forest Research website)