Tree Planting (Hansard, 17 March 1998)

§ 3. Sir Sydney Chapman
What initiatives he intends to take to encourage tree planting in Scotland. [33157]

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Calum Macdonald)
We are fully committed to increasing the area of woodland in Scotland, and we shall continue to provide grant aid and advice to landowners, crofters and rural communities to encourage them to plant trees. Special initiatives include challenge funds for the creation of more woodland in the Grampians and the Cairngorms.

§ Sir Sydney Chapman
Instead of all the bread and circus events to mark the millennium, would not a more practical and appropriate scheme with longer-lasting benefits be to encourage people to plant or donate trees to mark the millennium? As this is the 25th anniversary of national tree year, in which some of us played a modest part many years ago, will he use his good offices to encourage local authorities in Scotland to identify sites and organise schemes to encourage people to contribute to planting trees in towns, which would help to soften the impact of many urban developments?

§ Mr. Macdonald
I undertake to consider that interesting suggestion. As part of the millennium forest scheme, some £12 million will be spent in Scotland.

§ Mr. McAllion
Does my hon. Friend recall that St. Mark's gospel contains the sentence: I see men as trees, walking"? With that in mind, will he consider planting trees outside the Scottish Parliament to commemorate the giants of the Labour movement who fought for a Scottish Parliament this century, such as Kier Hardie and John Wheatley, but above all the great Jimmy Maxton, who once said that we should achieve more in five years of a Scottish Parliament than in 25 to 30 heartbreaking years' work in the British House of Commons? Could we have a plaque to that effect outside the Scottish Parliament?

§ Mr. Macdonald
That is an equally interesting suggestion, which I am sure the Scottish Parliament will wish to consider.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
Does the Minister accept that there is absolutely no point in planting new trees if, at the end of the departmental spending review, he reverses the current moratorium on large-scale block transfers of forests? Will he assure us that, when the departmental spending review is complete, there will be a period of consultation before the disposal of any Forestry Enterprise land in Scotland is considered, on the ground that many people in Scotland are concerned that there will be a short-term gain of a long-term asset?

§ Mr. Macdonald
As the hon. Gentleman is aware, that matter is being looked at as part of the review of forestry strategy, which is also part of the comprehensive spending review. Obviously, any proposals that come out of that review will be put out for full consultation with interested parties—those in the industry and those interested in forestry.