Question reference: S6W-17412
- Date lodged: 24 April 2023
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 May 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its commitment is to increasing forestry cover, including any timescales; whether any such commitment is tied to the fulfilment of any domestic or international climate action agreements; whether current policy towards extending tree cover meets the expectations of the Climate Change Committee; what annual budget is allocated to achieve its commitments on tree cover, and whether any such budget allocations for tree cover have been fully spent in each of the last three years.
Answer
Scotland’s Forestry Strategy has committed to increasing forest and woodland cover from around 18% to 21% of the total area of Scotland by 2032. To achieve this the Forestry Strategy Implementation Plan and Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan both commit to increasing woodland creation to 18,000 hectares a year in 2024-25.
This commitment to increase forestry cover is an important part of Scotland’s response to the climate emergency and the international Paris Agreement, which set out Scotland’s ambition to reach net zero by 2045. The commitment sits within the range of scenarios described by the Climate Change Committee. It also contributes to Scottish Government’s pledge to plant 165,000 hectares of new woodland by 2030 as part of the international Bonn Challenge.
The following table shows the annual budget allocated to achieve the commitments on increasing tree cover, together with net spend (millions):
19-20 | 20-21 | 21-22 | |
Woodland Grants | £51.0m | £55.3m | £61.8m |
EU Co-financing | £(20.8)m | £(26.9)m | £(10.5)m |
Net Budget | £30.2m | £28.4m | £51.3m |
Net spend | £27.9m | £17.6m | £31.8m |
The planting target increased from 10,000 hectares in 19-20 to 12,000 hectares in 20-21 in line with our net zero ambitions. Unfortunately due to the impact of the outbreak of Covid, EU exit and bad weather during the planting season only 10,660 hectares of woodland were created, resulting in an underspend of £10.8m. The planting target for 21-22 was increased to 13,500 hectares. Due to the influence of storms Arwen, Malik and Corrie and the availability of labour resources, particularly from Europe, 10,480 hectares of woodland were created. This resulted in an underspend of £19.5m.