New voices for Scotland
Efforts by the Scottish Executive to involve local people more closely in the management of Scotland's forests moved another step forward today with the announcement that it is setting up regional forestry forums.
Speaking to the Scottish Forestry Forum in Nairn, Forestry Minister Allan Wilson said he had asked the Forestry Commission Scotland to establish regional forums to advise on forestry policy and practice in their areas.
Mr Wilson recalled that 100 years ago Scotland had almost no forests and woodland left, but thanks to a vigorous replanting programme it now had about 17 per cent of the land area under trees.
He said this growing area of woodland and forest had the potential to play a greater role in improving people's lives across a wide range of activities in addition to sustainable timber production. These included health, education, climate change, community and rural development, tourism and recreation, and he added,
"I am determined that forests continue to make these vital contributions to the health and well-being of all the people in Scotland. As we start to look forward to reviewing our Scottish Forestry Strategy, we will need to mobilise as many people as we can, to capture their ideas, energies and enthusiasms.
"That is why I am pleased to announce that we will be working with people right across Scotland to establish Regional Forestry Forums. These forums will enable interested people to be fully involved - in helping to review the Strategy, select priorities that matter, and deliver actions that make a difference.
"These new regional forestry forums will be the regional expressions of the national forum. They will act as sounding boards, providing advice on policy and practice, regionally and also to the national forum.
"The advisory role of the regional forestry forums will span all the activities of Forestry Commission Scotland, including management of the national forests."
Forestry Commission Scotland Director Dr Bob McIntosh said members of the regional forums would be drawn from right across the range of interests in forestry, including environmental, social and business interests, and members would be recruited from an open invitation for applications.
Members of the regional forums would send delegates to the national forum.
The forums will take over the advisory role currently performed by the Commission's Regional Advisory Committees. One Scotland-wide advisory committee will be retained to perform the statutory function of helping to resolve disputed forestry grant applications.
