How can we fund new woodland against a backdrop of cuts?

A 41% cut to anything is a big deal. But when it amounts to £32,000,000, it’s a massive deal. That’s the scale of the cut that the 2024-25 Scottish Budget imposes on woodland grants.

Woodland grant funding – commonly known as the Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS) – is a fund that enables the creation and management of woodland and forestry in Scotland. It’s the bread-and-butter source of funding for planting trees and then protecting them from deer and other threats over many years. It has been key in efforts to restore Scotland’s rainforest in the absence of a much-needed rainforest restoration fund.

It was therefore a shock when we heard that it was facing the axe. Yes, we know the Scottish Government is facing a tight budget settlement. Yes, we know their capital budget is reduced by roughly 10%. But politics is about priorities, and a 41% cut to the FGS means woodland has been shunted well down the list of priorities for the SNP-Green Scottish Government. The deliverability of a key government commitment to protect and restore Scotland’s rainforest is also now in question.

This is a really worrying time for the sector. The commercial timber industry and Woodland Trust Scotland – representing a diverse range of interests ranging from native woodland sites to nurseries to foresters to timber merchants – have joined forces to lead the fight against the cut and make a strong case for a partial restoration of that funding. But so far, it has not come to pass.

We’ve built alliances on this point across the nature and climate sector. Through working with Scottish Environment LINK and Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, we’ve shown the breadth and depth of opposition to these cuts. And even the Climate Change Committee – independent advisors to government – has expressed “serious concerns” this week about the Scottish Government’s decision.

We all know what trees deliver for nature, climate and people. Trees and woods provide crucial habitat for a spectrum of birds, mammals, invertebrates, amphibians, plants, mosses, bryophytes, fungi and more.

Trees and woods suck carbon out of the atmosphere and hold it for many decades or even centuries depending on the species. They also help us adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects, especially in terms of managing water to prevent drought and flood.

In addition, the sector employs hundreds of people in nurseries, as planting contractors and as land managers, supplying much needed UK-grown timber, both hardwood and softwood, for furniture and biomass, making us less dependent on precarious foreign imports.

There’s no doubting the benefits. The Cabinet Secretary responsible for forestry and woodland recognises these benefits. But the Scottish Budget for 2024-25 has now been and gone. So, what happens now?

First, the Scottish Government must address the point made by Chris Stark, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, when he says that “any delay in delivering tree planting in the near-term will risk not achieving the emissions reduction required to meet targets in the 2030s and beyond.” In short, more money is needed now if we are to meet our legally binding climate change targets. Whether that comes from underspends in other areas, or through re-prioritisation in an in-year Budget review, we need answers urgently.

Second, the Scottish Government needs to set out a clear position on where it believes woodland creation funding will come from in future, if not from the FGS. If that’s nature finance initiatives or carbon income from specific projects, we need to know what frameworks are in place, and what efforts are in motion, to enable that income at scale and at pace to prevent disruption to an extremely fragile sector where ripples are felt for many years.

Third, the Scottish Government needs to engage with the sector more. The FGS cut took us by surprise and it was two months before we were granted a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary, Mairi Gougeon. Following a meeting with her this week, we were very pleased that the Cabinet Secretary agreed to meet with us more regularly so that we can avoid future shocks and shape policy development at the highest level of government.

These are extremely challenging times for those of us involved in trees and woods. The risks to climate change action, to nature restoration, and to jobs are clear. We and our allies across the sector are committed to finding solutions, not just articulating problems, but we need the Scottish Government to work with us towards our shared goals.