§ Lieut.-Colonel Bromley-Davenportasked the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food what is the preset* acreage of forests planted in the United Kingdom by the Forestry Commission and private owners, respectively; and what is the present target figure for increasing this acreage.
§ Mr. HareThe total forest area at present in Great Britain is estimated at 4 million acres of which 1,300,000 acres are managed by the Forestry Commission and 2,700,000 by private estates. The area of productive plantations within those acreages is estimated at: Forestry Commission 1,200,000 acres, private estates 1,680,000; the balance is made up of areas classified as scrub, devastated and felled.
As I announced on 24th July, 1958, the planting programmes of the Forestry Commission are now fixed for periods of ten years. For the five-year period 1959 to 1963 the programme will be about 300,000 acreas and for the period 1964 to 1968, 235,000 acres. The size of future planting programmes will be reviewed in five years' time in the light of the national needs.
It is not possible to fix a programme or programmes for planting on private estates. Financial assistance is given to encourage private woodland owners to plant as much as possible and to bring into production all their forest land.