Brexit offers forestry opportunity for land projects, says CLA

The CLA said forestry should feature 'more prominently' in new post-Brexit policy
The CLA said forestry should feature 'more prominently' in new post-Brexit policy

Brexit offers a new opportunity for landowners to provide more forestry by incentivising the sector, the CLA has said.

Giving evidence to the Efra Select Committee as part of its inquiry into forestry today, the CLA said forestry should feature 'more prominently' in new post-Brexit policy to change the use of land from farming to forestry.

CLA Forestry Adviser Mike Seville said: "There is an underlying presumption that the primary purpose of rural land is to produce food. We want to be much more radical in our approach to developing a new food, farming and environmental policy to replace and better the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) because we understand the public benefits trees bring.

"Woodlands provide a wide range of important environmental services for society such as wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, soil protection, water quality and flood alleviation. A new policy should place greater emphasis on supporting woodland creation and management which gives land managers wishing to take a longer term view on their land use activities a much more profitable and competitive option than is currently available.

Mr Seville concluded: "It is only by acknowledging this that forestry can become a more profitable industry for the UK."