§ Sir A. SINCLAIRasked the hon. Member for Monmouth, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, whether the survey recently carried out by the Forestry Commission is now available to the public; how much land in Scotland, in addition to that already afforested, is believed by the Forestry Commission to be capable of afforestation; and whether he is in a position to give this information county by county?
§ Sir L. FORESTIER-WALKERA summary of the preliminary results of the survey or census of woodlands was published in the Commissioners' 7th Annual Report. The area of afforestable land in Scotland is not known with any approach to precision. The Commissioners have not been in a position to carry out a systematic survey of the whole country.
§ Sir A. SINCLAIRasked the hon. Member for Monmouth, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, how many acres of land in Scotland have been planted since 1919 by the Forestry Commission and by private individuals in Scotland, respectively; and how much additional land in Scotland it is estimated will be planted by the Forestry Commission in the remaining part of its 10 years' programme?
§ Sir L. FORESTIER-WALKER30,466 acres in Scotland have been planted since 1919 by the Forestry Commission. It is estimated that over the same period private individuals in Scotland have planted 46,000 acres, of which 36,000 were planted with the assistance of grants by the Forestry Commission. It is estimated that approximately 14,000 additional acres in Scotland will be planted by the Commission during the remainder of its first decade.
§ Sir A. SINCLAIRasked the hon. Member for Monmouth, as representing the Forestry Commissioners, if he is in a position to state the total acreage of afforested land in Scotland; the total acreage under the control and supervision of the Forestry Commission; the total amount of land owned by the 1443W Forestry Commission; and if he will state in each case how much of the area is economic woodland?
§ Sir L. FORESTIER-WALKERThe preliminary figures for the census of woodland, 1924, show that the total area which is, or has been, woodland in recent years is 1,074,200 acres, but of that total 558,000 acres only are economic woodland (high forest and coppice), the remainder being scrub, felled areas and amenity woodland. The total area of land in Scotland owned by the Forestry Commission amounts to 245,500 acres, of which 109,000 are plantable or planted; of the latter, approximately 34,500 acres are economic woodland, being the land planted by the Commission together with areas under young plantations and under marketable timber acquired by the Commission. The Commission do not control or supervise any areas other than those acquired by them.