§ Mr. Corrieasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the basis for the claim by the chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council in the latest annual report that the present overall forestry policy based on the planning of the poorer agricultural land needs to be reconsidered.
§ Mrs. RumboldThis statement by the chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council reflects his council's concern about extensive planting of hill land and blanket bog, mainly in the north of Scotland. The council considers that much of this land is of high value for nature conservation and that afforestation can destroy or seriously damage these open ground habitats. The Nature Conservancy Council believes that consideration should be given to encouraging the planting of other areas. It is currently engaged in a study of afforestation and nature conservation in Britain, which will be published later this year.
§ Mr. Corrieasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the basis for the claim by the chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council in the latest annual report that, in the north of Scotland, the financial regime of tax concessions and grants designed for the creation of a national asset in timber is being stretched by the wholesale planting of land.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe Nature Conservancy Council calculates that 14,500 hectares of blanket bog in Sutherland and Caithness has now been planted, much of it in the last six years, and if planting continues at this rate 75 per cent. of the peatland below 250 metres will be lost over the next three or four decades. The Nature Conservancy Council takes the view that the availability of grants and tax concessions constitute the main incentive for this activity.