30 September 2020
Lord Goldsmith has described Confor's Biodiversity, Forestry and Wood report as "a hugely welcome contribution” to the discussion about the environmental benefits of woodlands.
"We need to work to improve the quality and diversity of our woodlands to support both the productive timber market and help tackle the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change," the Minister said in a video message to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Forestry and Tree Planting, which discussed the report and its findings. The event was attended by a wide range of parliamentarians, and senior figures from environmental organisations and the forestry and wood sector. Watch the video here
Lord Goldsmith added: "The Government is committed to expanding and managing woodland in a way that delivers the widest possible benefits and Confor's report proposes some critical points to support this endeavour. It is a hugely welcome contribution to the discussion."
Cheryl Lundberg, Senior Forest Consultant with Lockhart Garratt, who provided one of the case studies for the report, said: "We do not need to classify woodlands as ‘conservation’ or ‘commercial’, regardless of rare or threatened species. They are definitely not mutually exclusive, but one and the same."
She described "careful, but simple" steps which helped re-establish turtle doves on the Eltisley Estate in Cambridgeshire and added: "Not many tweaks are needed to your management to benefit a huge array of flora and fauna."
Report author, and Confor Policy Researcher Dr Eleanor Harris, said the UK could take a global lead in balancing wood production and biodiversity. "It is a choice, but not between one or the other - but both or neither," she said.
Dr Harris outlined three key findings of the report:
Dr Harris reviewed more than 100 pieces of evidence examining biodiversity in wood- producing forests and was “quite astonished how much life there was in these forests and how relatively little tree species matters to the forest ecosystem compared to other factors, such as size, structure and management."
She recognised some species and ecosystems relied on native broadleaf trees, such as the 555 species dependent on oak trees, but added that a far greater number of birds, mammals, invertebrates, plants, mosses, lichen and fungi would inhabit any kind of wood and their range had expanded due to 20th century forests.
Ben Lake MP, Chair of the APPG, asked if the perception that “old-style” plantations were “dark places with no light and little life” was accurate. Dr Harris replied: “It might [initially] be dark and bare on the forest floor, but you will hear birds singing above, and feeding on insects, and lichen growing on the trees. There is much richer biodiversity on the forest edge; the dark ground level is a very small component of the overall forest habitat which is diverse and dynamic.”
Baroness Young, a Labour peer and Chair of the Woodland Trust, said she found the report "very interesting" and stressed the need to recognise the "total spectrum of woodland that we need particular management solutions for".
She added: “Well-managed woodlands of all sorts will deliver for biodiversity in its unique way. For some of the most threatened species, you need particular conditions and we cannot lose sight of that in the dash to plant trees.”
Stuart Goodall, Confor Chief Executive, agreed that there is more to the issue than planting trees and highlighted bringing more woodland into management as also key. “The report captures all parts of the story", he added.
He urged the Government to produce a Tree Strategy which offered delivery mechanisms to reflect the diverse objectives of woodland owners or farmers planting trees: “We need sophisticated delivery mechanisms to allow all parts of the spectrum to engage in forestry and make it sustainable to achieve a range of outcomes. They all have a role to play."
Baroness Young supported Mr Goodall's response: “We must get out of the trenches and start recognising a range of forest management needs to happen and when we look at money for tree planting, we don't want to seek to back winners; they are all winners."
Mr Goodall said the report had been prompted by one of his biggest frustrations - outdated perceptions of productive forestry, often based on the worst examples of 20th century planting.
He said: "The planted forests of last century supported more wildlife than is commonly understood and many have evolved to be exemplars of multi-purpose forestry, but the worst examples have stuck in the minds of detractors who view them as representative of forestry practice – then and now. Modern forests are multi-purpose. But to change the minds of detractors, that claim needs to be backed up by evidence. I knew well-managed modern forests could deliver benefits for both the climate and biodiversity – and spurred on by the alarm bells of the nature crisis, we decided to look at the available evidence, speak to practitioners and produce a report."
Afterwards, Mr Goodall said the report was "the beginning and not the end of a conversation". He said: "I was delighted that the APPG discussion stimulated a wide range of questions, broad support for woodland management, the need for all types of forestry, including productive and agreement on the need to find common ground."
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Lord Goldsmith also backed Confor's response to the England Tree Strategy consultation, which proposed a three-pronged, joined-up approach. "Of course I support Confor's key message that we need to plant more trees, manage more of our existing woodlands and use more home-grown wood," he said. "A renewed effort to plant and manage our forests and trees is clearly going to be an important part of a Green Recovery - because forestry delivers multiple environmental and social benefits and sustainable products for construction and clean energy." The Minister thanked all the 1800 respondents to the consultation and the 16000 others who wrote letters supplied by environmental NGOs. He said the outcomes would be published later this year and the Strategy published "in the coming months". Ben Lake MP, APPG Chair, said: “It is absolutely vital that taking the Strategy forward includes close engagement with the forestry and wood industry - those on the ground.” |