Scottish Government

The Scottish Budget 2003-04: Summary

Chapter 13 Forestry

Ross Finnie MSP: Minister for Environment and Rural Development

In 2001-02, the Forestry budget in Scotland was 81m. Among other things, that money provided:

• Woodland Grant payments of 17.6m to create new woodlands, and improve the management of existing woodlands
• spending of 6.4m on maintaining and improving visitor and recreation facilities in Scotland's publicly-owned forests and woodlands

Our budget in Scotland for 2002-03 is 86m. Among other things, we expect this to help implement the Scottish Forestry Strategy through:

• Woodland Grant payments of 19.5m. The grant scheme is currently under review to ensure it reflects Strategy priorities, but is expected to continue to support work that will improve the economic, environmental and social value of Scotland's forests.
  
• further spending of 6.7m on visitor and recreation facilities

We plan to spend 89m in Scotland in 2003-04. Among our key priorities for 2003-04 are to continue to implement the Scottish Forestry Strategy by:

• implementing revisions to the Woodland Grant Scheme following the current review
• working with partners to upgrade our recreational facilities in the Queen Elizabeth and Argyll Forest Parks as part of the establishment of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park
• further spending of 6.9m on visitor and recreation facilities

Aim

To develop Scotland's woods and forests to provide economic, environmental and social benefits now and for the future.

What the budget does

Our key objective is to implement the 'Scottish Forestry Strategy' by promoting sustainable forestry in the private sector, mainly through grant aid and partnership working, and by managing the publicly-owned forests in accordance with the Strategy. More detailed information is available in our Corporate Plan for Scotland at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/scotland

The strategic directions of the Strategy are to:

• maximise the value to the Scottish economy of the wood resource becoming available over the next 20 years
• create a diverse forest resource of high quality that will contribute to the economic needs of Scotland throughout the 21st century and beyond
• make sure that Scotland's trees, woods and forests make a positive contribution to the environment
• create opportunities for more people to enjoy trees, woods and forests in Scotland
• help communities benefit from woods and forests

Table 13.1 Broad categories of spending (Level 2)

What we will do with the money

The Forestry Commission acts as our forestry department. Forest Enterprise is an agency of the Forestry Commission and manages the publicly-owned forests.

The Forestry Commission:

• carries out departmental forestry policy functions on our behalf
• promotes sustainable forestry through our Woodland Grant Scheme (which is currently under review, along with the Environment and Rural Affairs Department's Farm Woodland Premium Scheme), through development of effective partnerships and through regulation.

Forest Enterprise:

• manages the 500,000 hectares of publicly-owned forests and woodlands in Scotland
• develop the recreational and educational potential of the forests
• provide easy access to its woods and forests for all sections of the community
• improves the environmental, conservation and amenity value of the forests, including biodiversity and landscape.

Objectives and Targets

These are some of our objectives and targets. There is a fuller list in our main Annual Expenditure Report.