HC Deb 09 March 1976 vol 907 cc210-2W
Mr. Reid

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, for each region in Scotland, the distribution of woodland in Forestry Commission and private ownership, giving the acreage in productive and unproductive use.

Mr. William Ross

Information in the precise form required is not available but details which are available are given in the following tables:

TABLE 1
DISTRIBUTION OF WOODLAND AREA BY REGIONS AND BY OWNERSHIP CLASS
(000's acres)
Region Private Forestry Commission
Dumfries and Galloway … 85 160
Borders … 62½ 62½
Lothian … 25 10
Strathclyde … 135 260
Highland … 235 270
Central … 37½ 50
Fife … 25 12½
Tayside … 125 75
Grampian … 170 150
TABLE 2
DISTRIBUTION OF WOODLAND AREA BY REGIONS AND BY CATEGORY
(000's acres)
Region Productive woodland Un- productive woodland
Dumfries and Galloway … 235 10
Borders … 110 15
Lothian … 35 —
Strathclyde … 360 35
Highland … 430 75
Central … 75 12½
Fife … 25 12½
Tayside … 160 40
Grampian … 285 35

Mr. Reid

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the current composition of Scottish woodland under the heading coniferous and deciduous, giving breakdowns by individual species of tree.

Mr. William Ross

The last composite estimate of the distribution of tree species in productive woodland on Forestry Commission land in Scotland was compiled in 1972. The results are given in the table below:

Coniferous Species Acres (000's)
Scots pine … … 151
Corsican pine … … 10
Lodgepole pine … … 138
European larch … … 15
Japanese and hybrid larch … … 68
Douglas fir … … 16
Norway spruce … … 83
Sitka spruce … … 425
Other and mixed conifers … … 15
921
Deciduous Species Acres (000's)
Oak … 2
Other and mixed broadleaves … 3
5

The latest available estimate for the private sector productive woodland is dated 1965. The results for Scotland are given in the table below.

Coniferous Species Acres
(000's)
Scots pine … … 215
Lodgepole pine … … 7
European larch … … 20
Japanese and hybrid larch … … 44
Douglas fir … … 7
Norway spruce … … 41
Sitka spruce … … 63
Other and mixed conifers … … 8
405

Deciduous Species Acres
(000's)
Oak … … … 31
Beech … … … 20
Birch … … … 15
Sycamore … … … 11
Other broadleaves … … … 24
101

Since the dates of compilation of these figures planting in both the public and the private sectors has been predominantly of sitka spruce and lodgepole pine.