Hansard

I remind members that I am the parliamentary liaison officer for the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity.

Forestry, woodlands and trees are of great importance to Scotland’s rural communities. Forests contribute to the local economy by providing jobs and creating wealth. They attract visitors and create opportunities for our tourism sector. They are important to our cultural heritage, having inspired generations of artists and writers. Long-established woodlands form part of the historic environment, as evidence of earlier settlements and land use patterns.

The forestry industry contributes almost £1 billion a year to the Scottish economy and supports more than 25,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. The national forest estate is one of Scotland’s greatest natural assets and it generates £395 million and 9 million visitors each year.

Dumfries and Galloway, where I was born and where I live now, is one of the most wooded regions of Scotland. The region produces about 30 per cent of Scotland’s annual timber harvest and has a major processing capacity through two large sawmills at Lockerbie and Dalbeattie, in addition to a number of smaller facilities. The timber industry employs about 3,000 people across the region.

The industry’s continued growth and increased mechanisation have led to a recognised skills gap. Last year, I welcomed the Minister for Employability and Training to Dalbeattie to visit forestry machinery supplier Jas P Wilson, which is an example of a company that is working with young people to fill some of the skills gaps. The minister met apprentices and found out more about the company’s partnership with Dalbeattie high school. Minister Hepburn saw at first hand the really positive work that the company has been doing to offer work experience for pupils, which has in some cases led to full apprenticeships that are paid at the living wage. Offering our young people meaningful training opportunities in local businesses is vital to our region’s economy and will help to address national skills shortages in important areas of activity such as the forestry industry.

I am pleased that the SNP Government will introduce a forestry bill to complete the devolution of forestry. The bill will ensure that the Scottish Government has control of all aspects of forestry and will transfer the powers and duties of the forestry commissioners, as they relate to Scotland, to Scottish ministers. It will establish a forestry and land management body to focus on the development of the national forest estate.

As has been mentioned, a detailed analysis by Jim Mackinnon of the challenges that the sector faces was published in December. It outlined a number of recommendations to reduce the complexity and costs of tree planting, all of which the cabinet secretary has accepted in principle. The actions will include streamlining the process to approve sustainable planting schemes; earlier engagement between tree-planting businesses and communities; and the establishment of a dedicated national Forestry Commission Scotland team to deal with complex proposals. Those actions will help to ensure that we reach our manifesto commitment of planting 10,000 hectares of trees every year until 2022 and will also help to hasten the approval of planting. That will help to end the uncertainty over the future of forestry, which will encourage more private investment in the sector.

Stuart Goodall, the chief executive of Confor, recently praised the cabinet secretary for his “real political will” to tackle barriers to greater tree planting and his commitment to work with the sector to reach the target of planting 22 million trees a year. Those actions are especially important given the substantial support that the sector receives from the EU.

At this time of uncertainty for many rural industries, the Scottish Government is focused on creating stability and continuing investment in the sector. It is of extreme importance to reassure investors that Scotland is open for business. The Scottish Government has held summits with the forestry sector to listen to their concerns and ambitions. The cabinet secretary has also met leading representatives from forestry management and investment companies to provide reassurance that the Scottish Government is committed to seeing the forestry sector thrive.

As well as recognising the sector’s economic importance, it is crucial to recognise the role that forestry has to play in achieving Scotland’s climate targets. Trees and woodland can help us to adapt to the existing and future impacts of climate change by providing opportunities to store carbon, combat air pollution and reduce the risks of flooding.

In 2009, the Scottish Parliament passed the most ambitious climate change law anywhere in the world, and we have met six years early the headline target of reducing carbon emissions by 42 per cent by 2020. Scotland’s draft climate change plan, which was published last week, sets out how we intend to continue that progress, and forestry is an important piece of the jigsaw. By 2032, Scotland’s woodland cover will increase from around 18 per cent to 21 per cent of the Scottish land area, and, by 2050, Scotland’s woodlands will be delivering a greater level of ecosystem services such as natural flood management and biodiversity enhancement.

The forestry sector is important in many capacities. I hope that we will see support for the Government motion across the chamber and support for the action that the SNP is taking to deliver our tree planting targets, instil confidence and stability in the sector and maintain the national forest estate as an asset for the nation.