Stage 3 - Draft the Forestry and Woodland Strategy

The first draft of the plan might include:

• the preferred objectives and policies for future woodland creation and the management of existing forests and woodland in the area
• proposals for different woodland types by category in draft maps or detailed descriptions
• reasonable alternatives, to be assessed alongside the preferred options.

This would also be a useful stage to prepare any required impact assessments. 

Stage 4 - Consult on the draft Forestry and Woodland Strategy

In preparing a FWS, a planning authority must consult:

• the Scottish Ministers, (this requirement can be met by consulting the local Scottish Forestry Conservancy office)

  Contact your local Conservancy office

• such organisations appearing to them to represent those with an interest in
  • the development of forestry and woodlands
  • the protection and enhancement of woodlands
  • the resilience to climate change of woodlands
  • the expansion of woodlands of a range of types to provide multiple benefits to the physical, cultural, economic, social and environmental characteristics of the area
• such other persons as they consider appropriate

It is for the Planning Authority to determine how it wishes to consult on the policies, proposals and maps in the draft FWS.

The local Scottish Forestry Conservancy office will be an important key agency to involve, along with others such as:

• NatureScot and Historic Environment Scotland
• forums with an interest in regional land use, such as Regional Land Use and Regional Adaptation Partnerships where active

Other consultation might include local public meetings to ensure that communities have a chance to input to proposals, talking to community councils, and holding meetings with key stakeholders about particular areas or themes.

Stage 5 - Finalise the Forestry and Woodland Strategy

This stage is to refine the draft strategy to reflect views from the consultation and create a final version.

The FWS should be viewed as a dynamic document, with the underlying data which inform its policies and proposals kept up to date, giving it the capability to adjust to changed circumstances and priorities and so realise the multiple benefits to be gained from forests and woodlands.

It is preferable for the FWS to use high-quality spatial data which Scottish Forestry can publish on its website and use to inform effective and efficient Forestry Grant Scheme decisions.

The LDP cycle has a 10-year review period and an up-to-date FWS will make an invaluable contribution to that.

Stage 1 looked at the current context of forestry in the LDP area. Stage 2 considers the possible future context that a FWS will need to address.

This stage uses spatial data and policy information to identify: 

• key issues, challenges and considerations likely to influence the future development and management of woodland in the area
• the types of woodland that require specific consideration for the local context
• strategic alternatives that might be delivered through the FWS
• how the FWS fits with other local plans and strategies for green infrastructure, such as Open Space or Play Sufficiency Strategies

Useful forestry data for scoping a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

It is for the Planning Authority to decide which information is important for their FWS, but the publicly available forestry datasets will help to show the role that forestry can play in delivering a range of benefits to the area, and the capacity for land in the area to achieve them.

There may also be local authority datasets that are useful, for example on nature networks, settlement buffers, tourism and recreation, peatland restoration and Community Woodland Inventories.

This spatial data will be invaluable to develop indicative maps of future woodland creation areas (or to give detailed descriptions, which might be more appropriate for an island FWS).

Consulting with statutory consultees and key stakeholders will also be useful at this stage to get a fuller understanding of the opportunities and considerations for woodland creation and management that have been identified so far.

This would be a useful stage to scope a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) too. Assessment could begin as soon as different options and alternatives are developed, and considered within the early part of the drafting process.

The Scottish Government’s Local Development Planning Guidance sets out how the SEA can be aligned with the preparation of the local development plan.

Local Development Planning Guidance (Scottish Government website)

Planning authorities will need to develop a process to prepare their FWS. A staged approach to writing or updating a FWS might be particularly useful – the local Scottish Forestry Conservancy office will be able to advise.

Contact your local Conservancy Office

Typically, the following suggested stages might be followed: 

• stage 1 - review the current forestry plan/context
• stage 2 - scope the FWS
• stage 3 - draft the FWS
• stage 4 - consult on the draft FWS
• stage 5 - finalise the FWS

Spatial data to help prepare a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

GIS-based maps will be invaluable to help visualise the existing and planned woodland in the area, and publicly available datasets will be vital for the planning authority to access, use, modify and share through their own software.

Downloadable data sets relevant to forestry in Scotland are available on the Scottish Forestry Open Data Portal. 

Scottish Forestry Open Data Portal

Useful links from the Open Data Portal include the:

• Native Woodland Survey of Scotland dataset
• Scottish Forestry Map Viewer
• additional forestry open data such as the National Forest Inventory Scotland 2023

Also available through the Open Data Portal is the SpatialData Metadata Portal.

SpatialData Metadata Portal

This has key datasets for informing a FWS, such as: 

• land capability for forestry
• land capability for agriculture
• flood risk management
• air quality management
• local and national nature designations
• inventories of scheduled monuments and battlefields

Policy information to help prepare a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

Using policy information to inform the FWS will help it reflect legislative and strategic commitments, in turn helping to identify key drivers for future land use in the area.

The most relevant source of policy information is Scotland's Forestry Strategy 2019-2029 which sets out the Scottish Government’s 50-year vision and objectives for Scotland’s forests and woodland, and six priority areas in order to realise this vision.

Scotland's Forestry Strategy 2019-2029

Table 3 sets out key national policies related to forestry.

There will be local strategies and policies that should inform the content of the FWS too, in combination helping to create a vision for the area’s forests and woodlands.

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

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.

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)

Reflecting sustainable forest management in a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

Planning authorities (and all other public authorities in Scotland) also have a duty to promote sustainable forest management under Section 2(2) of the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 - it is expected this will be reflected in their FWS.

Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)

The principles of sustainable forest management as practiced in Scotland are set out here: 

What goes in to managing a woodland?

In Scotland, permission from Scottish Forestry must be sought for many woodland creation proposals.

Permissions for woodland creation 

The woodland creation application process

A FWS is required under section A159 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 as amended by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. It can be prepared either singly or jointly in collaboration with other planning authorities.

• Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 (legislation.gov.uk)

The legal requirements for a Forestry and Woodland Strategy

The legal requirements for FWS are that it must:

• identify woodlands of high nature conservation value in the planning authority's area, and
• set out the planning authority's policies and proposals in their area, as to
  • the development of forestry and woodlands
  • the protection and enhancement of woodlands, in particular those of high nature conservation value
  • the resilience to climate change of woodlands, again in particular those of high nature conservation value
  • the expansion of woodlands of a range of types to provide multiple benefits to the physical, cultural, economic, social and environmental characteristics of the area
  • any other matter which the planning authority considers appropriate

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

It is expected that, where available, an up-to-date FWS will inform the Planning Authority’s Local Development Plan Evidence Report. 

Planning Authorities can seek advice on sustainable forest management and the multiple benefits of forestry in relation to a FWS from their local Scottish Forestry Conservancy office.

Contact your local Conservancy office

What is a Forestry and Woodland Strategy?

A FWS sets out a Planning Authority’s vision, policies and plans for the future of forestry and woodland in its area.

It should reflect the Scottish Government’s approach to sustainable forest management (a term that includes woodland creation and managing existing forests) and delivering multi-benefit forestry that will help to realise a range of social, economic and environmental benefits.