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Work on that is happening just now. Last year, I announced some changes to the forestry grant scheme because, obviously, we want more riparian planting and more agroforestry. The grants and the rates of grant that we have made available for smaller schemes are hugely important in encouraging that work, too, and it is important that we continue that encouragement.

It is all about our engaging with the sector now to see how we can best utilise the available budget, and that is why the summit in December was so important. Some of the actions that were identified related to improvements that we can make to the woodland development process and how we can better develop people across the sector. All of that work can continue.

We all want full utilisation of the budget to ensure that we get as many trees in the ground as possible, and that work will continue. I want to ensure that we utilise the available budget that we have as well as we possibly can, and we will, of course, engage with key stakeholders as we look to do that.

Again, that is where the engagement that is happening right now and how we move forward with the available budget will be absolutely critical.

As I set out in one of my previous responses, 14,000 hectares’ worth of approvals are coming through. We want to make sure that we get all those hectares planted and that we utilise the available budget as best we can. That means that there could be some tweaks in how we award the funding in order to make sure that we maximise its impact as much as we can.

Ultimately, we do not want to be in a position of having really helped to drive forward the industry—whether that is nurseries, timber or the wider industry—and having encouraged farmers and crofters to do more agroforestry and riparian planting, then seeing that scaled back. We want to continue with the momentum that has been building.

You are absolutely right that we have not met all of our planting targets in previous years. That is why we had the woodland summit towards the end of last year to try to address the significant shortfall from the target of the previous year.

We have been encouraged by the level of approvals that have come through for this year, which is why I want to make sure that we utilise all the available funding. We will continue to work with the sector to ensure that we are all working together to deliver the goals that we all want. We want a thriving forestry sector because it is worth so much to our economy, as well as to our timber supply, and not least because of its climate impact. We want to make sure that we work together with the sector into the future.

Yes. I am sorry for launching myself into that question. I will touch on the point that Ms McAllan made about looking at the issue from a Marine Scotland perspective.

There was an increase in budget for Marine Scotland last year, specifically in relation to offshore wind. There has been a slight decrease in the overall marine directorate budget, but that is because a number of different recoupment controls and operational efficiencies have been considered for generating some of the savings that are required. There has also been a focus on maximising the income streams to the directorate. Obviously, revenues come into the directorate from commercial science activity, licensing fees and energy consenting fees.

It is also important to highlight the sheer scale of the work that the marine directorate undertakes. You asked about offshore energy consenting, which is a huge element of the work. Another vital component is our marine science and research. The directorate also has enforcement and compliance costs in relation to our fisheries and seafood.

I wanted to add some more to the context and to set out the overall budget position within the area.

The natural resources part of the portfolio helps to fund areas such as wildlife management, biodiversity and other areas within that. Simon Fuller could probably elaborate further on areas within that specific budget line, but that is largely what it covers.

That is largely because it more accurately reflects the spend within that element. The key point that I forgot to mention is the Atlantic rainforest, which Simon Fuller has just pointed out, and that is where we are continuing to invest. Parts of the budget have been underspent in the past, so what is set out in the published budget more accurately reflects what the spend will be within that area.

I certainly hope that we will reach that target, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that we do. If we look at the average restoration rates over the past few years, up until 2021, the average rate was about 1,500 hectares. From 2021 onwards, we have seen big increases in the level of restoration. That goes back to my earlier point about us trying to scale up the industry, which is still in its infancy. After 2020, we saw the restoration rate increase to 6,000 hectares. Then, in 2022-23, it was 7,500 hectares, which is a 35 per cent increase. This year, we are on track to see that increase further to 10,000 hectares.

We are moving in the right direction on restoration rates, and continuing with the investment is vital in providing confidence for the industry. We will continue that funding so that the industry can continue to grow and so that we can identify and deal with some of the issues.

I am sorry, but some of the figures that you have given for what we have already restored do not sound correct to me, although I do not know whether you are including this current year.

Ultimately, the commitment was for £250 million over 10 years to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded peatland. It is not possible for me to say at the moment what that will look like in five or six years. What I am trying to do today is highlight the importance of that continued investment, so that that trajectory can continue in the coming years.

Can you hear me okay now?

I do not know whether you caught any of the first bit of my response, but biodiversity cuts strongly across my portfolio and that of the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition. If you are looking to discuss specific funding and where the budget lines might be, I would refer you to a key budget line that we have touched on already—natural resources. In the agriculture element of my portfolio, around £30 million has been made available for our agri-environment work, and a large part of that is the agri-environment climate scheme, which relates to climate mitigation, adaptation and lowering emissions, as well as enhancing biodiversity. That is just one example.

Specific funds in the marine directorate contribute to enhancing biodiversity. Trying to tackle the climate and nature crises that we face is a key element of our blue economy vision, and in that respect, I would highlight the £14 million for the marine fund Scotland to support fisheries, seafood and aquaculture projects that will deliver on that vision. Specific projects with a focus on biodiversity can be funded within that.

We also have funding for particular species. For example, there is the wild salmon strategy, for which we have introduced an implementation plan, and we have provided about £1.5 million of funding to work through and support that.

No doubt the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition will say more about the nature restoration fund, but it has been critical to all that work, too. There are particular budget lines within my portfolio, but I would note that the funding for the wild salmon work has been enhanced by that fund, which involves planting further upstream. Farming and agriculture schemes have been funded through the nature restoration fund, too, but the net zero cabinet secretary might be able to set out more detail on that.