Forestry Commission recognises importance of private landowners to nations woodlands says CLA

The CLA congratulates the Forestry Commission on the publication of a Delivery Plan detailing how forestry will develop in England over the next four years.

CLA President Henry Aubrey-Fletcher said: "We are pleased to see that the Delivery Plan has taken on board many of the views and concerns of private landowners and businesses expressed by the CLA in meetings and consultation responses on the document.

"The Commission has recognised the importance of the traditional private sector owner of which our members are a good example. They have also recognised the need for economically viable woodland businesses to deliver all the other environmental and social benefits. Previously it has all been about the social and environmental and nothing about the economics."

Issues of particular note include: "The economic viability of woods and forests is vital to ensuring the continued provision of public benefits… An economically viable forest business sector must exist for [public benefits from trees] to happen."

The CLA also welcomes the commitments to "review the operation of forestry regulation to ensure it is appropriate to the range of woods and forests in England, aiming to reduce the regulatory burden through a risk-based approach" as well as "carry out surveys to improve our understanding of what owners want from their woodland and what support would help them to enhance the benefits their woodland provides to society".

The CLA President added: "In aiming to deliver this plan, we are pleased there is a commitment to taking the approach of seeing forests in a context of wider land use and to prioritise the protection of the assets many have inherited."