HC Deb 28 February 1996 vol 272 cc874-5
4. Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action is being taken to increase planting of native broadleaf trees. [15787]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Raymond S. Robertson)

We provide a wide range of advice and grants to encourage the planting of broadleaf trees and fully support initiatives such as the millennium forest and the national forest. As a result, the area of new broadleaf woodlands created each year has increased fifteenfold over the past 10 years.

Mr. Pawsey

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that helpful response. Does he recall the number of trees that were lost in Great Britain partly because of the hedgerow clearances of 20 to 30 years ago and partly because of Dutch elm disease? Will he redouble his efforts and consider a new initiative? I am thinking especially of a tree-planting year. For example, 1973 was the year of the tree. Will he consider the introduction of a similar campaign so that we may replace some of the trees that have been lost over the years?

Mr. Robertson

I remember the Plant a Tree '73 campaign because I was in my second year at secondary school. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has pledged full support for an initiative to create a millennium forest in Scotland. The first tree in the £11.5 million first phase of the project, which will eventually result in millions of trees of various species taking root across the country, was planted by my right hon. Friend at Castlebrae community high school at Craigmillar in Edinburgh with the help of local schoolchildren. The initial phase consists of 45 different woodland projects from Orkney to the Borders, with half the cost being met by the Millennium Commission using national lottery funds.

Mr. Galbraith

Surely the Minister realises that the type of tree that is planted is not the only forestry issue. Of much greater importance is access to the land. What can he do to ensure that, for the foreseeable future, guaranteed access to afforested land will be maintained?

Mr. Robertson

My noble Friend the Earl of Lindsay, who is the Minister responsible for these matters, has been widening access throughout Scotland, and every effort is being made to secure agreements that guarantee access for the public on foot. Following the forestry review, the Forestry Commission has been encouraging local authorities to respond positively to its open access agreements, allowing them more time to consider the agreements and offering to meet their reasonable legal costs.

Mr. Lord

Does my hon. Friend acknowledge that, while broadleaf trees add considerably to the countryside environment, they do not add a great deal to our forestry industries? The conifer has been much maligned in recent years, perhaps unfairly. The backbone of any successful forestry industry in Britain is the conifer. Will the Minister do all that he can to disabuse people of the belief that one can have a forestry industry based on hardwoods and try to get more conifers planted?

Mr. Robertson

Grants for new conifer planting were increased by nearly 30 per cent. on arable and improved land, and we expect the increased grants to give a major boost to conifer planting which, as my hon. Friend says, is important for investors in the wood-processing industry. There was an encouraging increase of almost 3,000 hectares in new conifer planting last year to about 9,000 hectares, 8,000 of which were in Scotland.

Mr. David Marshall

Does the Minister accept that, as a result of Government policy on tree planting and other issues, the people of Glasgow feel that the Government have simply abandoned the city? Will he accept an invitation from Glasgow Members to spend a day touring the city to see for himself the problems that are caused by the twin evils of unemployment and poverty? If he comes, he will see the hundreds of acres of derelict land which can be improved only by tree planting, be they broadleaf or conifer.

Mr. Robertson

Yes.