Anne McCall shares RSPB Scotland's recommendations to the Scottish Government for a stronger Forestry Strategy
Missed opportunities for wildlife: the Scottish Government’s Forestry Strategy
We all want to help minimise the impact that climate change will have on our environment, and what better way to do that than to plant more trees? Trees can lock up carbon and create beautiful environments for wildlife to live in and for people to enjoy.
RSPB Scotland would like to see more trees in Scotland, particularly native woodlands and sustainably managed productive forests which will provide a home for our important woodland wildlife. The Scottish Government has ambitious woodland expansion targets, and is now consulting on an updated Forestry Strategy, with a new 50-year vision for Scotland’s woodlands and forests.
We live in a time of massive declines in wildlife. The most recent State of Nature report found that 13% of species are at risk of extinction in Great Britain. Whilst many woodland bird species such as the Great Spotted Woodpecker are doing well, others such as Capercaillie and Black Grouse have declined significantly over the last decade. Other birds such as Curlew, which occupy open ground habitats often targeted for commercial tree planting, are also under increasing pressure. The Scottish Government has an opportunity to use the Forestry Strategy to clearly set out how it will meet its international and domestic obligations to further the conservation of biodiversity and place nature at the heart of future forestry policy.
Unfortunately, the proposed Strategy seems unlikely to deliver, with only one out of ten “priorities” making a passing reference to biodiversity. RSPB Scotland are calling for the Scottish Government to re-think this approach and instead embed biodiversity throughout the Strategy.
To achieve this shift in focus, the Forestry Strategy must deliver clear commitments to biodiversity in the following ways:
The Strategy is focussed on further woodland creation. We want a strong commitment to the creation of new native woodland, with a target that rises in line with overall woodland expansion targets. In practice, this means that at least 50% of new planting should be native woodland. New conifer plantations must incorporate functional areas for wildlife; these must be properly managed and not left as “token” areas.
We also want the Strategy to give clear assurances that new woodland creation will not damage existing habitats, such as peatlands and grasslands, and that the cumulative impacts of forestry on the wildlife that depends on these habitats are properly taken into account when assessing new woodland schemes.
Greater consideration should be given to innovation, using trees as part of green infrastructure, encouraging agroforestry and supporting new models for community ownership and management of woodland.
The Strategy needs to be much clearer on how existing woodland can be managed to improve its value for wildlife.
For native woodlands this means identifying clear priorities for management, such as controlling invasive non-native species like rhododendron and reducing the impact of deer on natural regeneration processes. Productive forests need to continue to be restructured to improve their overall quality as wildlife habitats. The restoration of plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites must be included. All woodlands must be viewed in the context of the wider landscape, integrating with other land uses such as agriculture and forming a key part of a National Ecological Network – something RSPB Scotland has been pressing the Government to establish for some time now.
We need the strategy to identify indicators which enable long term monitoring of the impacts and benefits of woodlands. We encourage Scottish Government to include measures such as the Terrestrial Breeding Bird Index and population data for key species, such as Capercaillie.
The Strategy must recognise the legacy of poor decisions regarding forestry in the past, and set out further steps to address the restoration of open habitats such as peatlands, prevent the encroachment of trees onto open ground and the removal of invasive non-native species (including commercial species which spread into the wider environment).
Implementation
To address key issues and challenges the Scottish Government must set out clearly what action is required, providing detail on timescales, measures of progress and identifying those responsible for delivery. We want to see a clear commitment to produce a more detailed Action Plan in consultation with stakeholders, no later than 12 months from the Strategy being laid before Parliament.
Forestry is just one activity that requires land. In future, we need to balance different land use demands and look for ways to optimise the benefits that land provides us. It makes sense to do this at a regional or more local level, rather than national, recognising the differences across Scotland. We are calling on the Scottish Government to fund the completion of Regional Land Use Frameworks (RLUFs) to achieve this, and want to see regional partnerships established to take this forward. In this way, the aspirations of the Forestry Strategy could be considered alongside other Government strategies, such as the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and a newly emerging Agriculture Strategy.
The new Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 places a statutory duty on the Scottish Government to promote sustainable forest management. This should complement its existing duty to further the conservation of biodiversity. If the Forestry Strategy is strengthened in all the ways outlined above, we are confident it will enable the Scottish Government to meet its obligations.
How you can help.
RSPB Scotland wants all rural policy to have wildlife and the conservation of the natural environment at its heart and we urge the Scottish Government to produce a Forestry Strategy that makes this happen. If you would like to respond to the Forestry Strategy Consultation, you can find it online, or you can contact the Government directly to express your views by emailing forestry.strategy@forestry.gsi.gov.uk. Tell them that nature matters. The closing date to respond is the 29th of November.
Image: Male capercaillie in roost tree, Credit Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)