§ Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the proposed planting acreage by the Forestry Commission in Scotland for the next five years; and how this compares with the last five years.
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§ Mr. William RossPlanting—including restocking—for the five years up to 31st March 1975 has been:
Year ended 31st March Acres 1971 … … … 48,800 1972 … … … 48,500 1973 … … … 43,900 1974 … … … 41,100 1975 … … … 45,600 Final figures for the year ended 31st March 1976 are not yet available but the indications are that the planned programme of 41,600 acres has been achieved. The planting and restocking programme for 1976–77 is 38,400 acres and provided the recent improvement in the rate of acquisition of planting land continues it should be possible to maintain and perhaps to increase that rate in later years.