Sorting the woods from the trees
The future of Scotland's national forests will be aired at a series of public meetings across the country over the next fortnight, including one in.... (see Notes to Editor for your local meetings and forests.)
The meetings are part of a nation-wide public consultation over the future direction of Scotland's national forests, which are forests owned by Scottish Ministers and managed by Forestry Commission Scotland.
The consultation is part of a review of the size, nature, distribution and other aspects of the national forest estate, launched by Forestry Minister Allan Wilson last August. The Commission manages nearly 667,000 hectares of forests and other land throughout Scotland to provide a range of public benefits, including timber production, nature conservation and public recreation. These forests represent about 35 per cent of the total of 1.35 million hectares of forest and woodland in Scotland.
Now Ministers want to "take stock" of the national forest estate and consider whether any changes might help them better achieve the aims of the Scottish Executive's forestry strategy and provide the benefits that the public wants from them. Part of the stock-taking review is to ask the public for their views on topics such as where public forests should be, how much public forest there should be, what benefits forests should provide, and what role local communities can play in forest planning and management.
To help this consultation process, the Commission has published a consultation document that summarises the Executive's forestry policy, provides a range of key facts and figures about the national forests, and raises some of the questions and issues on which Ministers would like to hear the public's views. It also includes a response form that readers can fill in and send as their response to the consultation.
Forestry Commission Scotland Director Dr Bob McIntosh said,
"Our forests in the 21st century are very much more than just wood farms - they are now Scotland's biggest provider of outdoor recreation in the form of walking, cycling and riding trails, wildlife-watching, visitor centres, and camping, caravan and cabin sites, and they are also homes to many of our most precious wild plants and animals.
"This means that how we manage and where we establish national forests can affect the lives of a great many people, and it is therefore very important that we know and understand just what the people of Scotland want from their forests.
"I would therefore recommend that anyone who is interested should read the consultation document, come along to one of the meetings if they can, and give us their views."
The consultation document can be downloaded from the Commission's website, www.forestry.gov.uk/consultations, or a free paper copy can be ordered from Kenny Murray, Forestry Commission Scotland, 231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh EH12 7AT, telephone 0131 314 6408; fax 0131 314 6152; e-mail: kenny.murray@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Responses to the consultation should be received by Forestry Commission Scotland by 27th February 2004, and the review is expected to be completed by the end of April 2004.
