Chamber and committees

The recently announced renewables projects on the national forest estate are not yet producing income. Forestry Commission Scotland has, however, through its repositioning programme been buying land suitable for planting. Since 2005 it has acquired 18,574 hectares.

Forest Enterprise Scotland is committed to maintaining annual timber production from the national forest estate at a sustainable level of between 3.3 and 3.5 million cubic metres per year. This guarantee of a stable and predictable timber supply helps to maintain confidence and sustain jobs in the timber harvesting, haulage and processing sectors. Forest Enterprise Scotland will therefore seek to maintain the productivity of the national forest estate by ensuring that potential timber production lost through removal of woodland for wind farms will be replaced by the creation of new productive woodlands through compensatory planting. In doing so, a broad assessment of future timber/carbon equivalence will be undertaken, this allowing for any forest re-design necessary for compliance with the UK Forestry Standard.

The environmental impact of woodland removal is assessed through Environmental Impact Assessments undertaken as part of the development management process, this being further informed by the Scottish Government''s policy on control of woodland removal - www.forestry.gov.uk/woodlandremoval.

The requirements for sustainable forest management are set out in the UK Forestry Standard and are embodied in the Scottish Government''s Scottish Forestry Strategy. In turn, the National Forest Estate Strategic Plan (2009-13), sets out how Forest Enterprise Scotland will implement the Scottish Forestry Strategy, seeking to balance the delivery of its social, economic and environmental objectives. Achievement of such sustainable forest management on the national forest estate is verified through independent certification against the internationally recognised UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS).

The amount reinvested in new planting since 2009 is £2,837,581 which equates to 10.2% of the total income through the repositioning programme and the amount reinvested in purchase price of properties of £8,107,591 equates to 29.2% although we expect this figure to be 40% by the end of March 2011.

The majority of the research capability required to support the development of forestry policy in Scotland is provided by the Forestry Commission''s Forest Research Agency. By the agreement of forestry ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, the Research Agency is a GB-wide organisation which is funded by the Westminster Government. FC Scotland is a member of the Research Strategy Management Board which determines research priorities. Through Forestry Commission Scotland, Scottish ministers will continue to press for a programme of research which meets Scotland''s needs, while retaining the ability to fund research directly, to supplement the programme delivered by the Forest Research Agency.

This information is not held centrally and I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to reply to you

The Scottish Government recognises the valuable contribution that the national forest estate makes to the delivery of social, economic and environmental outcomes, including the provision of employment and support for timber processing companies. Forestry is worth around £700 million to the Scottish economy every year and Scotland''s forests support over 30,000 jobs, mostly in rural areas.

The Scottish Government also recognises the need to seek an appropriate mixture of land uses in order to develop a diverse and resilient rural economy. This government is the first to embark upon production of a Land Use Strategy for Scotland. The strategy, which will shortly be laid before the Scottish Parliament, sets out proposals and policies for the long-term sustainable use of Scotland''s land resource and will provide a framework within which discussions aimed at determining the optimum mix of land uses in Scotland can take place.

The amount of hectares planted in the national forest estate is listed in the following tables:

Local Authority Area	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Aberdeen City	11	10	0	11	9	0	0	6	46	0	7
Aberdeenshire	382	388	381	457	467	461	397	426	271	335	295
Angus	30	54	35	52	40	42	19	85	7	13	22
Argyll and Bute	759	789	997	968	841	846	1,025	995	1,011	876	1,020
Clackmannanshire	0	1	0	12	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	1,133	1,382	1,151	1,294	1,352	1,259	1,322	973	1,217	1,489	796
East Ayrshire	2	54	92	17	17	188	160	31	195	160	70
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	7	0
Falkirk	21	2	0	29	19	0	0	0	2	0	0
Fife	16	5	10	49	22	14	1	0	37	57	80
Highland	495	598	561	771	535	592	625	698	686	683	553
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	50
Midlothian	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Moray	114	126	336	226	193	228	80	96	122	63	96
North Ayrshire	43	39	42	34	37	45	45	57	76	69	21
North Lanarkshire	16	8	61	39	29	87	99	5	28	54	28
Perth and Kinross	54	115	135	188	126	174	145	109	89	85	75
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	66
Scottish Borders	233	356	305	356	373	384	391	253	478	426	509
South Ayrshire	133	285	303	189	246	300	177	254	324	111	385
South Lanarkshire	0	24	22	21	13	17	5	33	173	33	176
Stirling	197	133	227	197	204	293	269	111	222	264	205
West Lothian	12	9	0	42	89	0	57	35	70	35	35
Total	3,650	4,382	4,659	4,952	4,611	4,933	4,817	4,167	5,077	4,760	4,489

Note:

* Planting year runs from 1 October until 30 September the following year.

*2010 planting figures.

Forest Districts	Hectares
North Highland	308
Lochaber	129
Inverness, Ross and Skye	291
Moray and Aberdeenshire	245
Tay	192
Cowal and Trossachs	222
West Argyll	607
Scottish Lowlands	316
Dumfries and Borders	378
Galloway	827
Total	3,515

Note: *Figures are only available at this moment in time in by Forest District boundaries.

Since 2009, 11,757 hectares have been sold under Forestry Commission Scotland''s repositioning programme raising £27,110,205 in the same period.

All proposed sites are subject to planning regulations, which include an assessment of environmental impact and where appropriate a full Environmental Impact Assessment and/or Habitat Regulations Appraisal.

The Scottish Government contract with Sodexo is to provide catering service, not specific foods or products. Whilst we expect our contractor to pay a fair price, the arrangements between our contractor and their suppliers are commercially sensitive and for the contractor to manage.

Separately I have recently met with Robert Graham junior to discuss options to increase the sustainability of the Scottish dairy sector.