HC Deb 02 July 1984 vol 63 cc46-7W
Mr. Ron Davies

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the volume of timber, grown in England, which is exported annually for processing as pulp; and what this represents as a percentage of the total volume of timber produced in England each year.

Mrs. Fenner

In 1983, some 111,000 cubic metres of timber grown in England was exported. This represented 5 per cent. of the timber produced in England that year.

Mr. Ron Davies

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of the total volume of utilisable timber standing nationally is due to planting by public bodies; and if he will give the respective percentages attributable to each body.

Mrs. Fenner

Planting in Great Britain has been carried out by a wide range of public bodies and there is no ready means of ascertaining the volumes of standing timber resulting from planting by each body. However, by far the greater part of this planting has been carried out by the Forestry Commission. About one third of timber by volume stands on Commission land.

Mr. Ron Davies

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of the timber utilised annually in England is produced in the British Isles.

Mrs. Fenner

Figures are not readily available for individual home countries but about 10 per cent. of the timber utilised annually in Great Britain is homegrown.

Mr. Ron Davies

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will provide a progress report on a study presently being conducted by the Dartington amenity research trust of the potential for wood production as an integrated agricultural development in the lowlands of south west England.

Mrs. Fenner

The project which is jointly funded by the European Commission, the Ministry, the Countryside Commission, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Forestry Commission, started in the summer of 1983 and will take three years to complete. The study is of the potential integration of farming and forestry in a difficult agricultural area of south-west England. It is managed by a steering committee comprising members of the funding organisations and the two six-monthly reports already made to the committee indicate that progress to date is acceptable.