§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what area of Britain's broadleaved forest is at present productive for timber; and what percentage of the United Kingdom's hardwood timber needs this satisfies.
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§ Mr. Michael ForsythThere are 811,000 hectares of broadleaved woodland in Britain, of which 615,000 hectares are classed as productive for timber. Some 23 per cent. of our total hardwood timber consumption is at present met by broadleaves grown in this country.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how the management of Britain's broadleaved forest is being directed towards achieving a reduction in imports of socially and ecologically sensitive tropical hardwoods.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe Government's broadleaves policy is successfully encouraging an increase in the area of broadleaved forest in Britain. In addition, the Government will be making management grants available from April 1992 under the Forestry Commission's woodland grant scheme to encourage the improved management of existing woodlands. Taken together, these measures can be expected to lead in due course to a significant increase in the total production of timber from Britain's broadleaved forests. However, hardwood timber grown in Britain currently meets only a quarter of total consumption, and direct substitution of certain tropical hardwoods by domestic timber supplies may not always be feasible because of the different qualities of timber involved.
County Property Year sold Purchaser England Bedfordshire Marston Thrift 1987 Bedfordshire county council Buckinghamshire Hog and Hollowhill 1987 Buckinghamshire county council Cumbria Pool Bank 1988 Nature Conservancy Council North Yorkshire Little Beck Wood 1986 Yorkshire Wildlife Trust North Yorkshire Stapleton Park 1986 Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Northumberland Biddlestone Lot 1 1986 P. Burgess Northumberland Briarwood Banks 1988 Northumberland Wildlife Trust Warwickshire Knavenhill and Boundary 1988 Mr. Hodgkinson West Sussex Kings Park Plaist 1988 Southern Water Wales Dyfed Panteg, Pencelli, Pontbren 1988 Dyfed Wildlife Trust Dyfed Coed Rheidol 1990 Nature Conservancy Council Scotland Borders Pease Dean 1988 Scottish Wildlife Trust Borders Gamescleugh (pt) 1989 Mr. and Mrs. Watson Highland Beinn Eighe 1989 Nature Conservancy Council Highland Glenspean 1988 A. E. Reader and others Highland Loch Insch Plantations 1989 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Strathclyde Tiroran/Scobull 1989 D. M. Holman
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all lands owned by the Forestry Commission which have been notified as SSSIs.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythA list of the 393 areas of Forestry Commission land notified as SSSIs has been placed in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all land in England and Wales which was owned by the Forestry Commission and has been sold; and if he will show in his answer the name of the purchaser.