Forestry industry calls for "climate of confidence” to push up productive planting

Stuart Goodall, CEO of forestry and wood trade body Confor, spoke out after new figures showed planting in 2024-25 was up in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - but significantly down in Scotland.

The fall in Scotland meant overall woodland creation in the UK fell from 20,660 hectares in 2023-24 to 15,690 hectares in 2024-25.

Mr Goodall said: “There are encouraging signs in England, where overall planting is up by more than 25% and productive conifer planting has increased by 58% year on year. In Wales, conifer planting went up from just 10 hectares in the last figures to 320 hectares in 2024-25 and overall planting was up from 640 to 960 hectares - and we have a great chance to build on this further with the Welsh Timber Industrial Strategy. Northern Ireland has also seen an increase in overall and conifer planting.

“However, in Scotland, annual planting has fallen from just over 15,000 hectares in 2023-24 to 8,470 hectares in 2024-25 - which is very disappointing. Within that, conifer planting is down from 8,720 to 4,550 hectares.

“I cannot stress enough that we need to plant many more productive conifer forests - to avoid increasing the UK’s long-term reliance on timber imports (around 80% of wood used in the UK is imported) and to support more climate-friendly construction. It is fast-growing conifers that will help achieve targets for net zero, support rural jobs and make the UK more resilient in the face of rising global demand for timber, but we’re simply not doing enough of it.”

Mr Goodall said the sharp fall in planting in Scotland was down to a combination of factors, but the biggest impact was a previous huge cut to the planting budget which seriously damaged confidence, alongside issues such as the process of securing approval to plant and the exclusion of fast-carbon sequestering trees from carbon trading.

“Confor is pressing for action on all these issues. For this year, we have seen a significant increase in the budget, and we have also asked for multi-annual funding commitments to give greater confidence on future funding, as well as action to introduce a more formal process for approvals with clear deadlines that are met and clarity over recent legal challenges.”

Mr Goodall said the clear support for woodland creation in England by Forestry Commission Chief Executive Richard Stanford, in particular for productive woodland, was starting to deliver results.

“There have been positive developments - including mapping areas where there is a presumption that woodland creation schemes will be approved, and strict timetables for decisions. There is also more of a can-do attitude, and we expect to see that show up further in planting figures in future years.

“This has promoted greater industry confidence in England and we need to raise that confidence level in Scotland too - as it has traditionally been the powerhouse of the UK’s productive forestry industry.

“In Wales, we’ve seen a step forward and hopefully the launch of a new Timber Industrial Strategy will support the significant progress required to meet the Welsh Government's ambitions for timber production.”