New report argues Scotland benefits from forestry and timber

Crucially, the report also critiques and rebuffs the conclusions of the inquiry into public financial support for tree planting and forestry conducted by Professor Ian Wall FRSE for the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) in 2024.

The new analysis has been written by Dr Andrew Cameron, Emeritus Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen’s Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences.

“I strongly welcome this report,” said Confor CEO Stuart Goodall. “It highlights the significant public value delivered by the Scottish Government’s support for the forestry sector, which remains a long-term national asset for Scotland.

“It also provides a comprehensive critique of the RSE report. When it was published, I stated clearly that I believed the report to be deeply flawed and quoted a number of experienced academics in support of that view. This further, in-depth critique by Dr Cameron is very timely given that we have unfortunately seen some people in political circles being influenced by the RSE report.”

Dr Cameron’s report sets out the significant benefits that Scotland’s forestry and timber sector provides and notes that the investment by government in the productive forestry sector, totalling around £41.2 million in 2022-23, is only about 0.001% of Scotland’s national budget – a tiny amount which has great impact.

The report goes on to identify that government support for woodland creation and forest management plays a vital role in supporting rural economies, accelerating carbon capture and strengthening domestic timber supplies; just some of the enduring benefits from an industry that delivers over £1.1 billion annually to the Scottish economy and supports over 34,000 jobs in Scotland’s rural areas.

The themes in the report also support Confor’s manifesto for the Scottish elections, ‘Timber is the Future’. The manifesto document highlights that building more and better homes, delivering economic growth and new jobs, and tackling climate change are three of the biggest political priorities for the next Scottish Government, and that Scotland's forestry and timber industry can deliver all three at the same time.

In the preface to the manifesto, Stuart Goodall quotes Sir David Attenborough, who said in his ‘Our Planet’ series that we need to create new forests to produce more wood.

Stuart added: “Planting more forests with the right trees to increase the supply of Scottish timber will lock up carbon and unlock investment in tree planting, timber processing and manufacturing, stimulating economic growth across Scotland, and help tackle the cost-of-living crisis and the climate and housing emergencies.

“At a time when political parties are thinking about the next Government in Scotland, this significant new report reinforces the importance of robust evidence when assessing forestry’s contribution to Scotland’s economic growth, to tackling climate and nature emergencies and related challenges such as housing.”