Planning For The Long-Term With Tree Planting

Now is an exciting time for the forestry and wood-processing sector in Scotland. The Scottish Government's annual planting targets of 10,000 hectares of new woodland, rising to 15,000 hectares by 2024-25, are ambitious and reflect an attempt to counteract the future impact of the low levels of tree planting across the United Kingdom since the early 90s. The new Scottish Forestry Act should ensure that the legal framework can properly enable and support what is already a modern and dynamic industry. The Act allows for the continuous development of a forestry strategy to deal with the requirements of the industry and wider society.

The planting targets can only be met through a broad range of planting schemes. The specific mix of native broadleaves and conifers is always a point of negotiation during forest design, with forest managers and landowners generally looking to maximise the coverage of sitka spruce, the fast-growing conifer favoured by the processing industry