UK must do better on timber supply, says Minister

“That can and must change, and we need to be in a position where we can supply that wood and meet that demand.” 

In a wide-ranging speech, Lord Goldsmith also said that there was “no credible pathway to net zero that does not involve trees”. 

He reiterated the UK Government’s ambition to meet its challenging target of planting 30,000 hectares of new woodland annually by the end of this parliament, with England contributing an increasing share of that as laid out in the England Tree Action Plan, published almost a year ago. 

Hitting the target will require a huge effort, with current annual planting sitting at less than 14,000 hectares - with 80% of that happening in Scotland.  

Lord Goldsmith said the England Woodland Creation Offer was enabling a huge range of different planting, from new native woodland and riparian planting to commercial softwood forests. “Good management of commercial and highly productive woodland can benefit the economy, employment and nature too,” he said. 

“That raises a vital issue for us here in the UK – do we adapt to this new reality and produce more of our wood here in the UK or do we seek to maintain strict controls on imports and cherry pick sustainable timber leaving other countries with less stringent rules to damage those fragile forests we all want to protect?” 

Ben Lake MP, Chair of the All-Party Group on Forestry and Tree Planting, said: “My two key messages are that modern forestry is not about either-or choices [between wood-producing forests and amenity woodland] and that the UK must take more responsibility for producing its own wood. We must make a long-term decision to grow more of our own timber.   

“We cannot carry on relying on importing wood, as rising global demand means this will inevitably increase pressure on fragile faraway forests. The UK cannot continue to export its forest footprint.” 

There was a wide-ranging question and answer session, covering a range of issues including the fear that investors could be deterred from investing in forestry because of changes to carbon “additionality” rules which could discriminate against profitable productive planting schemes - and result in lost carbon benefits.

Reflecting on the event, Stuart Goodall said “It was such a pleasure to be meeting face-to-face again with the minister, MPs and peers, and Confor Members, and the topic of the day was extremely pertinent – as the world changes around us how can we here in the UK take more responsibility for achieving net zero in an environmentally responsible way (both at home and abroad) and unlock the economic benefits of increased wood production and consumption”.