Survey shows over 80 per cent of people want more trees planted in the Highlands
MORE trees should be planted in the Highlands, according to a survey carried out by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).
Over 80 per cent agreed the Highlands should be reforested and over 78 per cent said more should be done to support the biodiversity of the region More than 90 per cent said they supported productive forestry to help mitigate climate change and for Scotland to become more self-sufficient in timber production. The Highlands are home to approximately 350000 hectares of forestry, representing around 13.5 per cent of the land area.
Between 40-50 per cent of that woodland is managed by FLS and it produces some 500,000 tonnes of timber each year for housebuilding, fencing and pallets and other uses.
Forestry is one of the nature-based solutions FLS is employing to help mitigate the climate emergency and conserve endangered species, including capercaillie, white-tailed eagles, wildcat and water vole.
FLS north region manager, Graeme Prest, said, “There is strong support in Scotland for increasing the amount of timber we grow here by planting more forests, to make us less dependent on timber imports from abroad - and to support biodiversity. Some of Scotland’s endangered and iconic species such as red squirrels, ospreys, hen harriers and pine marten do especially well in productive forests. We have received £30million from the Scottish Government to buy more land to plant more publicly owned forests and woodlands. This will enable us to increase our tree planting effort by 20 per cent by 2024/25, helping to meet the government’s ambitious net zero targets. The Highlands will play a key role in helping us meet this target.”
Woodland land cover has increased from 9.2% to 13.5% of the land area since 1980, but more land could be used for forestry.
