My View: thoughts on UK forestry

Off the back of the climate change debate, woodland has soared to the top of the UK’s political agenda with promises to plant millions more trees. A cross-section of arboreal stakeholders share their thoughts on how this should be achieved and what it could mean for the country’s rural landowners and farmers, as well as the population as a whole
6 minutes to read

 

The landowner Mark Bridgeman, CLA President

There was a race at the last election for which party could offer to plant the most trees. As always, the devil will be in the detail and the CLA has fed in its suggestions to the government’s Tree Strategy. The reason tree planting rates have been so low since the 1980s is that long-term incentives have not been attractive enough and the bureaucracy has put many people off.

There is a great opportunity to do a lot of tree planting within the farmed environment, as well as larger-scale forestry projects, to help achieve the goals. Almost every farm could do some planting, whether it is those awkward or boggy unprofitable corners or fields, expanding that narrow shelter belt, or wildlife corridors with wider hedges and more hedgerow trees. But for planting in the farmed environment to really accelerate, the system has to be simplified and there needs to be long-term payments for carbon and/or environmental payments.

The politician Lord Goldsmith, Minister for Forests

Trees and woodlands provide a staggering range of benefits. With the right species grown in the right places, they are crucial to reversing biodiversity loss across the UK. They capture carbon as they grow, and a major increase of tree planting is a pre-requisite to delivering our net zero commitments. They play an under-appreciated but hugely valuable role in preventing flooding and managing water supply. And, of course, they provide a sustainable income and support our rural economy.

So now is an exciting time for forestry. We’ll shortly be consulting on the England Tree Strategy which will deliver the English portion of our commitment to increase tree planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025. We need your help to create a strategy that maximises the benefits trees provide for nature, people and the economy.

And I want to reassure you that anyone creating woodlands today will not be disadvantaged when we transition to the Environmental Land Management scheme in 2024 – so I encourage land owners to take up our grant offers and help us create woodlands now.

The industry representative Stuart Goodall, Chief Executive, Confor

Net zero emissions by 2050 is a pragmatic response by government to the massive challenge of meeting our climate change commitments, and brings into sharp focus the role of tree planting as a means of taking carbon out of the atmosphere comparatively cheaply.

England and Wales have repeatedly failed to meet modest planting targets, so what needs to change? Well, government officials have to recognise a climate emergency means the status quo can’t continue and there has to be a clear acceptance that changing land-use implies accepting trade-offs.


And we need to embrace producing timber and providing a future income for the landowner. Wood products are all around us. Wood is low-carbon and with strong and rising prices it provides many landowners and farmers an opportunity to diversify as we leave the CAP.
In Scotland, cross-party recognition that forestry is an industry and a means to promote wildlife and recreation has seen real progress. We now need southern counterparts to do the same.

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The conservation charity Ellie Brodie, Head of Land Management, Wildlife Trusts

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of trees and woodlands for people and nature. Some of the many benefits they bring include providing important habitats for wildlife, storing carbon, holding back flood waters and boosting our wellbeing through being an escape into nature.

The Wildlife Trusts want to see more tree cover across the UK to help nature’s recovery and tackle the climate crisis. We want this increased tree cover to be strategically planned through a Nature Recovery Network following the principle of planting the right tree in the right place to ensure that trees aren’t planted over other vital habitats such as peatlands and species-rich grasslands.

We also want to see more natural regeneration of existing woodland rather than restocking from nurseries because it fosters greater diversity, better protections against tree diseases and more suitable homes for our native wildlife. Wildlife Trusts across the UK are working hard to boost nature on people’s doorsteps and further afield.

The investor Richard Kelly, Director, Foresight Group

From an investment perspective, as one of the least forested countries in Europe, the UK is ripe for large-scale afforestation. To date, afforestation investment opportunities have been rare, but provide the opportunity for even greater returns than mature woodland. With the Government publicly supportive of mass afforestation, rural landowners and farmers have a once in a lifetime opportunity to enhance the value of their estates.

Afforestation investment sweet spots include northern England, the Scottish Borders and Western Scotland. These areas benefit from a combination of subdued land prices and optimal growing conditions. Schemes designed with a large proportion of high-yielding species, such as Sitka spruce, will be more highly valued. Land that comes with a high-quality afforestation feasibility study and a relatively low level of planning risk will be particularly sought after.

With the increasing importance of ethical, social and governance (“ESG”) considerations, expect to see substantial institutional appetite for the coming wave of UK afforestation investment opportunities.

The ecologist Dr David Hetherington, Woodland Advisor, Cairngorms National Park Authority

A tempting quick fix, both in terms of meeting ambitious national planting targets and rapidly sequestering carbon, would be simply to plough-and-plant rows of fast-growing conifers native to other continents. These plantations undoubtedly have a purpose, but typically lack the more complex structure and diversity of plant and animal species found in more natural woodland.

Overly invasive ground preparation methods in carbon-rich soils can mean the plantation is a net emitter of carbon for much of its early life. The sensitive design and planting of diverse new woodlands, which make good use of the rich palette of native tree species available, would not only sequester carbon and help manage flooding downstream, but would bring huge benefits for an array of wildlife, help shade our ever-warming rivers, and provide us with a greater recreational and sustainable timber resource.

Here in the Cairngorms National Park we are aiming for 1,000 hectares of new woodland every year and much of it is happening through unfenced natural regeneration from existing seed sources. Thousands of new hectares of mainly Scots pine and birch woodland are being created by reducing deer grazing pressure, ensuring the right tree in the right place with minimal disturbance to carbon-rich soils.

The forester Andrew Bronwin, Andrew Bronwin & Co

Much of my career as a forestry agent has been spent battling against low timber prices and government indifference to trees and woods. Those times are now behind us with a significant rise in timber prices and the realisation that trees can help in the challenge of climate change.

Devolved governments are investing in forestry at very different levels. Scotland is leading the way with a commitment to create 15,000 hectares of new woodland by 2025, Wales has huge potential, but is struggling to meet a more modest target of 2,000 hectares due to lack of funding, while England is something of an unknown with many more competing land uses.

The fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic is, of course, unknown but there is no doubt that there will be substantial and long term demand for timber products. Our own domestic supply will dip from 2030 following a dearth of planting over the past 30 years and there will be good opportunities for woodland owners to realise full value from their assets.