Broadleaved Woodlands: Management (Hansard, 8 May 1991)

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, in his statement in another place on 23rd July 1990, my right honourable friend the then Secretary of State for Scotland announced that woodland management grants are to be introduced from 1st April 1992 under the Forestry Commission's woodland grant scheme. The new grants will encourage the proper management of broadleaved woodlands, which will have the effect of increasing the value of the timber eventually produced.

§ Lord Gisborough
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that Answer. In view of the enormous amount of neglected hardwoods in the country, is he confident that these grants will adequately encourage proper management and vermin control throughout the whole period of the growing of the hardwoods?

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, the Government recognise that neglected woodlands require sustained and systematic management. The management grants are intended to encourage private owners to bring neglected woodlands into a healthy and productive state. The management grants will be available at £10 per hectare per annum for conifers and £25 per hectare per annum for broadleaves under the standard grant and £35 per hectare per annum for all species under the special management grant. In addition there is a supplementary grant of £5 to £10 per hectare per annum for woodlands of less than 10 hectares, which will cover most neglected woodlands. This means that a total of up to £45 per hectare per annum could be available for the management of small neglected woodlands.

§ Lady Saltoun of Abernethy
My Lords, is the noble Earl aware that lack of an adequate management grant was largely responsible for new planting falling short—by around 20,000 hectares—of the Government's target last year?

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, we cannot take a short-term view of forestry. Over the past 10 years we have seen a quarter of a million hectares of new planting in Great Britain. In relation to our land area, we have probably done more than almost any other country in the world to build up our 1082 forestry. It is certainly true that there has been a recent drop in planting; but this should not cause us to be pessimistic about future prospects for forestry. The pattern of planting is changing. There is more planting on better quality land and less in the hills. There are more community forests and there is more planting by farmers. We must allow time for planting to move strongly in these new directions.

§ Lord John-Mackie
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the management of trees after planting is much more important than the planting? We are indebted to the noble Lord, Lord Gisborough, for raising the matter. The Forestry Commission has produced two very good advisory pamphlets. I should like to think that the Government will do something to make public the importance of the management of trees. If they do not, all we shall get in 120 years' time is firewood instead of first-class wood for use.

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, the Government, in conjunction with the Forestry Commission, are doing everything that is possible. Neglected woodlands require sustained and systematic management. The management grants will contribute to that end. I hope that many neglected woodlands will be put back into good heart.

§ Lord Renton
My Lords, would not the greater use of our native hardwoods reduce the demand for imported tropical hardwoods, the cutting down of which so badly affects the environment?

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, my noble friend raises an important point. There was an important benefit to the balance of payments of some £700 million in 1989. The timber processing industry employs around 10,000 people. That figure will rise by perhaps 50 per cent. in 10 years and will double in the early years of the next century.

Lord Winstanley
My Lords, am I right to deduce from the noble Earl's answers that at long last we are to get away from the Forestry Commission's former policy of single species even age planting followed by clear felling which did so much environmental damage in so many upland parts of Britain?

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Yes, my Lords, so far as I understand it.

§ Lord Carmichael of Kelvingrove
My Lords, the House will be glad that the Minister has indicated a change of thinking by the part of the Government in regard to encouraging broadleaves. It has been stated that our deficit in hardwoods is very high—£2.2 billion last year. How much Forestry Commission land has been sold to date? Can he say what proportion of that land will be given over to hardwoods rather than to the production of wood for immediate consumption?

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, I do not have the figures that the noble Lord asks for; I shall write to him.

§ The Earl of Radnor
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the cricket bat willow is classed as a 1083 hardwood? Is it not correct then that it should attract some form of grant? At the moment, that species does not.

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, I do not have the answer to my noble friend's question. I shall certainly write to him. I assume that it would come under the woodland management grant scheme.

The Duke of Atholl
My Lords, will my noble friend confirm that non-British trees such as sycamore and beech will qualify for the grant at the broadleaved rate?

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, as I understand it, sycamore and beech will come under the scheme, but, as I said in my previous reply to my noble friend Lord Radnor, I shall confirm that in writing to my noble friend.

§ Baroness Nicol
My Lords, who is responsible for the management of the woodlands that are being planted, I am glad to say, along so many motorways? Is it the Department of Transport? If so, will it take advice as to how the woodlands should be managed? The number of trees involved is important in some areas.

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, I believe that the noble Baroness is referring to community forests.

Noble Lords
No!

§ Baroness Nicol
My Lords, perhaps I can help the noble Earl. I am talking about planting along the verges of motorways—not the adjoining land—which is now considerable.

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, as I understand it, that planting does not come under the Forestry Commission. Again, I shall have to write to the noble Baroness on the matter.

§ Lord Burton
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that there is almost no market for hardwoods in Scotland, especially the north of Scotland, and that therefore the management grant will be even more important in the north if the Government want to encourage the growing of hardwoods?

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, I can only agree with my noble friend.

§ Lord Williams of Elvel
My Lords, perhaps I can take up the question asked by my noble friend Lady Nicol. She did not claim that the trees planted along the motorways were under the control of the Forestry Commission. She asked whether they were under the control of the Department of Transport and, if so, who was responsible for their management, and whether the Department of Transport, if it were the relevant authority, would take advice. Will the Minister answer the question?

§ The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
My Lords, I shall be completely honest. I do not know the answer 1084 to that question. I suspect that the trees do come under the Department of Transport, but I shall have to write on the matter.