Tag Archives: Forestry Commission Scotland

A tale of two protests – and a tale of none

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A protest rally was planned for Holyrood for this afternoon (21st January) by the Liberal Democrats against the Scottish Government’s proposed forest leasing scheme. This is one of the lowest points in the history of an honourable party embedded in Scotland’s political culture. It has been one of the worst examples of a campaign aimed at political advantage, run in flagrant misuse of the facts and counter to the inerests of the taxpayer.

For Argyll has reported on this matter regularly and has named and shamed the perpetrators – which now incude rhe Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Tavish Scott.

The flag of protest has been run up the poles of loss of jobs, loss of authority for Forestry Commission Scotland and loss of forest amenities and access for the general public.

None of these are true. Environment Minister Michael Russell has given the most secure and absolute guarantees on all of these matters to everyone concerned.

But in these times of economic hardship and fears for the future it is easy to raise anxieties and protest by disinformation and by frightening the vulnerable by groundless claims that their jobs are at risk. This is dishonourable and stains the already shabby fabric of political life.

The guarantees have been specific, repeated, public and recorded. Michael Russell’s and the Scottish Government’s integrity could not more clearly be on the line. It is inconceiveable that the assurances so resolutely given are less than the facts. But hey, who cares about the facts when there might be votes to be grubbed for.

Elsewhere, in Iceland, when their parliament reconvened today, thousands protested outside the building, demanding that the Icelandic government step down and that early elections be held. The demonstration began at noon yesterday and ran into the small hours today (21st January).

This is a country which is in serious financial crisis and against whom the UK used anti-terrorist legislation to seize the UK-held assets of the troubled Iceland banks. Kaupthing Bank is suing the UK’s Financial Services Authority over its actions in this respect, claiming that its actions forced the bank into administration which might otherwise have been avoided. The Kaupthing action has the backing of the Icelandic Government which is prepared to take the matter to Europe if necessary.

While Icelanders protest at a financial crisis they are living through, the depth of which we cannot imagine – yet – Scots are romping around making idiots of themselves at Holyrood protesting on false premises.

And it’s not as if there aren’t enough causes just now crying out for committed and selfless protest:

  • The UK Government is about to send substantially more troops to Afghanistan
  • It is keeping a minimal military presence in Iraq for no reason than avoiding the holding of a public enquiry here into why we went into Iraq in the first place. The Government has decreed that such an enquiry will be held but will not take place as long as we still have soldiers (of an unspecified number) in Iraq.
  • And there’s Gaza, where new tungsten Dime bombs have been used unnecessarily against the Palestinians, inflicting injuries which are currently untreatable.

These are real things to protest about rather than be gulled into playing the part of pawns in schoolyard political games.

Comment from Environment Minister, Michael Russell MSP, on political scaremongering on forest leasing scheme

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For Argyll has reported several times on uninformed and irresponsible political scaremongering on the Scottish Government’s forest leasing proposals. The latest example of this – and the subject of a very recent report – was unfortunately perpetrated by former Argyll & Bute MSP, George Lyon at the opening of his campaign to go to Brussels as an MEP.

Michael Russell has now himself sent For Argyll a comment on this matter – and please note his invitation to put forward any suggestions and ideas which you think would improve the proposed scheme.

Mr Russell says:

‘The Liberal Democrat  campaign of disinformation about the forestry proposals is now a matter of serious concern. People have a right to expect their elected representatives and their potential candidates to tell the truth but alas on this occasion the Liberal Democrats have preferred to peddle downright lies.

‘I suspect it will rebound upon them but for any party – or any individual – to seek a few extra votes by means of deliberate deceit is a disgrace to democracy.   And when the issue goes to the heart of the greatest challenge facing humanity – that of climate change – then most of us will only have contempt for such people.

‘I  remain open to all views on the forestry proposals, including ideas that can improve upon them or present viable alternatives.   All I ask is that such a debate is conducted using fact, not fiction. On that criteria the Liberal Democrats have excluded themselves from the discussion’.

Today’s Scotsman carried a factual piece underlining just how falsely based is the convenient alarmism of the moment.

It reminds us that Scotland has 1.1 million acres of state-owned forest (460,000 hectares), making the ninety year-old Forestry Commission Scotland biggest landowner. It needs an annual subsidy of £28million, some of which is used for non-commercial activities, leaving the forest estates still losing millions of pounds each year.

The Scotsman goes on to say that Jim Hume, the Lib Dem’s Environment Spokesman, has implied that:

  • local businesses will lose contracts
  • outdoor activities the Forestry Commission supports will be stopped
  • hundreds of jobs will be at risk
  • Forestry Commission Scotland’s income will be ‘severely diminished’

- all if state forests – 25% of them – are leased to the private sector.

The Scotsman dismisses such alarmism as ‘grossly misplaced’. It points out that virtually all facilities made available to the public in the forests could be safeguarded in the terms of the lease – and Michael Russell has guaranteed that they will be.

In fact such facilities cannot be other than safeguarded since they are all certified under the UK’s Woodland Assurance Scheme. This deals with issues like the provision of local employment, public access, biodiversity and health and safety.

As the Scotsman says and as For Argyll has ponted out on many occasions, it is only the taxpayer-funded annual subsidy which will be ‘severely diminished’.

Sorting out the facts on Michael Russell’s proposed forest leasing scheme

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For Argyll has spent a fair bit of time and space on the Scottish Government’s proposed forest leasing scheme – which means we’ve done a fair bit of research on the proposals and a fair bit of thinking about them.

The proposal is to lease around 25% of Forestry Commission Scotland’s forests – in Argyll and Aberdeen, for up to 75 years, raising £200million to spend on creating new forests. The volume of planting proposed in these new forests – about 10,000 hectares – will absorb carbon by 200,000 tonnes per annum by 2020 and by a projected 1.2million tonnes per annum by 2050.

The proposals have been attended by some of the clearest examples of irresponsible political black arts we’ve seen in a while. Facts have not been worth garnering or have been kicked into touch in the interests of whipping up knee jerk opposition to the proposals simply for party political gain. Jobs would be lost… Forestry Commission Scotland would have no role to play…

As For Argyll has repeatedly stressed, both of these unfounded scares have been robustly countered by Michael Russell, the Minister concerned, on so many occasions that he must recite the facts in his sleep.

Now another matter has been raised and in the raising, more inaccuracies have been coined alongside some genuine concerns.

Saturday’s (17th January)  Press and Journal has an article disclosing that the Scottish Government has now confirmed that it is indeed to allow lessees of the forests to apply for grants to replant the harvested areas they lease. These grants are to come from the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

The paper then quotes Richard Baker, North East MSP, as saying about this matter: ‘This is a win-win situation for these private firms. They could chop down timber that has been planted at public expense, walk away with the profit and then get paid to replant more trees’.

This statement suggests that the private firms involved would be getting the taxpayers’ timber for nothing in the first place.

The fact is that the taxpayer has of course paid for the timber Forestry Commission Scotland have planted. It is also the taxpayer who would be selling the leases for their initial harvesting and for the ground. It is the taxpayer receiving the revenues. And it is the taxpayer applying those revenues to the reduction in carbon and the fight against climate change. There’s no give away involved in any of that.

However, the disclosure that the private firms will have access to Rural Development funding as an additional sweetener is a quite different issue. This has not been previously disclosed, as far as For Argyll is aware.

Peter Peacock MSP makes the very real point in the Press & Journal’s article that: ‘… the interests of farmers and other forestry organisations which compete for a share of funds under the Scotland Rural Development Programme..’  would be damaged. They would be competing for a smaller share of the Rural Development Programme’s funds, with a part of its budget probably topsliced to fund replanting by these private commercial interests.

The grants to be made available to the commercial forest lessees would have to be subtracted from the estimated £200million raised by the leases. Only then would there be an accurate picture of the much less substantial revenue the proposal would raise for the taxpayer to spend on reducing the level of circulating carbon emissions.

A commercial transaction is a commercial transaction. If there are private firms interested in long leases of parcels of Scotland’s commercial forests then they should themselves expect to bear the cost of replanting after harvest in the normal way.

What was – and is – an innovative and defensible, if controversial, strategy to combat climate change without additional cost to the taxpayer may well now fail. It may fail because of the volume of highly irresponsible scaremongering which has gone on. It may now also fail in the face of reasonable opposition to a very uncommercial element of what was presented as a commercial proposition.

The Scottish Government points out that all the issues raised in connection with the proposals will be addressed within the consultation now taking place. It has urged people to take part before the consultation ends on January 27. You can do this online at the Forestry Commission.

Lazy scaremongering from George Lyon – must do better

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For Argyll reports very rarely mention the party affiliation of any Scottish politician. This is a contribution to focusing on what really matters – the issues, the evidence, the decisions, the implementation and the results.

There is nothing so tired, so dispiriting and so empty-headed as politicians focused only on scoring party political points rather than doing their best for Scotland and for those who elected them to do just that.

There is nothing so dishonourable as politicians who don’t do their homework while comfortably trotting out wildly inaccurate statements for political benefit. And there is nothing so stupid as politicians who do this when the facts are in the public domain. This sort of thing is a fraud on constituents, on potential consituents and on voters.

One issue that has attracted a great deal of this behaviour is the Scottish Government’s proposal to lease 25% of Scotland’s commercial forests in order to raise money for measures to fight climate change.

Environment Minister, Michael Russell, has committed himself publicly, in writing and very specifically to copper-fastened reassurances that there will be no resulting compulsory redundancies for those working in our forests. He has also given these detailed reassurances directly to the key organisations concerned – like the Trade Unions, who have not since disputed or questioned them.

And he has said clearly that will be no diminution of the role, responsibilities and advisory capacity of Forestry Commission Scotland.

Yet far too many politicians simply take the cheap scaremongering route and do what George Lyon has now also done. The former Argyll and Bute MSP, now a prospective candidate for the ultimate gravy train of a seat in the European Parliament, has said, in starting his campaign: ‘Privatisation would be disastrous for Argyll’s forests and forest workers’.

In every respect this does not trouble itself with the documented facts and is a dilution of the currency of trust on which democracy depends. And it is irresponsible to frighten and destabilise people about the security of their jobs when no threat to them exists.

We pay our politicians to represent us. We expect them to work to be properly informed. We require them to tell us the truth. We do not expect them to see and treat us as simpletons and as pawns in their games – to be manipulated in their interests. We deserve better and we will get it if we start to vote on merit and on evidence than by tribal tradition.

Labour Highlands & Islands MSPs focus on Argyll forests in opposition to Scottish Government’s forest leasing proposal

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For Argyll has reported on several previous occasions on the Scottish Government’s plan to raise money to put Scotland ahead of the world in measures to combat climate change and to do so by leasing 25% of the national forest for a period up to 75 years.

Now Highlands and Islands Labour MSPs, Peter Peacock, Rhoda Grant and David Stewart, are backing a campaign to stop the forest lease proposals.

The major thrust of their campaign focuses on fears by forestry workers for their jobs. The Scottish Government, through the responsible Environment Minister, Michael Russell, has given what it describes as robust and unequivocal guarantees to forestry commission workers – and to the Forestry Commission Trade Unions (FCTU), on job security.

The Government therefore sees the fostering of continuing anxieties on jobs as ‘political scaremongering’.

This certainly does play on understandable fears and on an evidenced distrust by most people of any government and of all politicians.

Where politicians and others opposed to any initiative have done their homework, forensically checked the detail of proposals and reassurances and can be specific on matters that can be checked objectively and has found real cause for concern, then raising anxieties is fully justified.

In this country, however, opposition to anything from political initiatives to wind farms to the re-introduction of the beaver tends to be either uninformed and targeted on gut fears in a vulnerable public or selective in its use of evidence. This is irresponsible. It causes unnecessary anxiety and makes ordinary people pawns in what is little more than a game. We expect better today.

In this case, the Press Release from the three Highlands MSPs is unhelpfully non-specific in the foundation for the fears it raises about job and in its failure to mention the Government guarantees.

What is much more substantial is its second focus on the future position of Forestry Commission Scotland should the Climate Change Bill – of which the forest lease proposal is a part, go through the Scottish Parliament.

Rhoda Grant has pointed out: ‘It is difficult to see how the role of the Forestry Commission could remain viable with its most lucrative forests (Ed: the majority of which are in Argyll) removed from its control. At a time when community involvement in forestry is gaining ground it seems ludicrous to pass control to other organisations who are looking to profit from our forests and who will not have a social remit to work with our communities’.

She goes on to note that there will be considerable concern locally about the future of forestry in Argyll and the long term effects on the staff currently employed by the Forestry Commission, which is an important employer in Argyll.

Its vast spectrum of natural resources is the key to Argyll’s economic development and particularly in all aspects of sports and recreational tourism. The future of recreational forests – which Forestry Commission Scotland has led with imagination and energy, is a matter of very real concern.

For Argyll has asked the Environment Minister, Michael Russell, for a response on this specific matter. He has replied immediately and we pubish his comment in full under Comments/Responses below.

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Russell ‘open to views’ on proposal to lease some of Scotland’s forests

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For Argyll has recently reported on the proposal to lease 25% of SCotland’s forests for a period of up to 75%. The proposal is that the reveue generated by sich leases wld be used to fund measures to combat climate change.

Environment Minister Michael Russell today (3rd december 2009) said he was adopting an ‘open door’ approach on the current options being explored in the consultation on how Scotland’s national forests can be used to tackle climate change.

One option is that of leasing up to 25% of Forestry Commission Scotland’s forests to help raise new money to put back into tackle climate change.

After a meeting today with John Hume MSP, union representatives and delegates from the forestry and tourism sector, Mr Russell said: ‘We have recently started our consultation process and at this stage I wish to gather views and ideas on how we can make Scotland’s national forests work harder for climate change. I’m very open to views and welcomed the opportunity today to talk through some of the innovative proposals we are putting forward for consultation.

‘We can’t stand still and wait for things to happen when it comes to climate change – we need to take action now. The national forest estate is currently valued at £850 million and it is right that we explore how some of this capital can be freed up to meet climate change  challenges. Our consultation will help shape a future direction on achieving this.’

Talking specifically on the lease option he added: ‘I was keen to reinforce my commitment today that if a lease arrangement ever became a reality we would ensure access and recreation was secure and there would be an unbreakable commitment to continuing the highest environmental standards of forest management. The land would be leased for up to 75 years and would remain in the public sector – it would not be sold off.

‘Staff within the Commission also have a triple jobs guarantee. There will be no compulsory redundancies, their rights would be fully protected by TUPE and if any member of staff didn’t want to transfer to another organisation then the Commission would make the strongest efforts to ensure they would have a job within the Commission.

The consultation is just what it says it is – an open opportunity for all ideas and views to be considered. I’m very happy for this to continue and welcome as many views as possible.’

The consultation paper – Climate Change and the National Forest Estate in Scotland – outlines proposals to:

  • Develop renewable energy projects to help the Scottish Government meet its ambitious greener energy targets
  • Plant more trees as part of plans to increase the area of Scotland covered in woodland by the second half of this century

Comments on the consultation paper can be submitted until 27 January 2009 and a copy of the paper is available at Forestry Commission Scotland.

The matter is of interest to Argyll, the possessor of a significant percentage of the national forest and also the possessor of significant resources across the spectrum of renewable energies.

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Anxiety in Argyll on plan to lease 25% of Scotland’s national forest estate to foreign logging companies

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There are some issues that touch on chords deeper than reason and the possibility of Scotland leasing 25% of its national forest estate to foreign logging companies would seem to be one of them.

The Scottish Government is consulting on the proposal and Environment Minister, Michael Russell, has said that ‘not one inch’ of Scotland’s forests will be sold and that there will be no compulsory redundancies. The Government want to leverage the forestry reserves to raise money to combat climate change.

Nevertheless, the very notion, aggravated by talk of leasing periods of up to 75 years, is causing widespread concern from the trade unions concerned about jobs to those afaid of a compromise to the integrity of Forestry Commission Scotland, to anxiety about impacts on wildlife and biodiversity in which Argyll is particularly rich.

The matter is of considerable importance to Argyll, with a major part of the national forest estate, a massive annual harvest of timber and with forestry as one of the two main employers in the area.

While it is hitting the headlines now, it was back on 4th November that Michael Russell, Minister for the Environment, submitted a plan to use Scotland’s forests to boost economic growth and increase renewable energy capacity.

Logic suggests that it is unlikely that a Scottish National Party administration would do anything to deplete Scotland’s independent resources or the integrity of the core organisations managing such resources.

This is probably a case where it is necessary to set fear and emotion aside, listen to the detail of what is proposed and contribute rational argument. But it is the sort of issue that produces an instant gut recoil and that may prove a difficulty..

According to Forestry Commission Scotland, the consultation paper – Climate Change and the National Forest Estate in Scotland – outlines proposals to:

  • Develop renewable energy projects to help the Scottish Government meet its ambitious greener energy targets
  • Plant more trees as part of plans to increase the area of Scotland covered in woodland by the second half of this century

The consultation – part of the Scottish Recovery Plan for the economy – urges local communities, the forestry sector and private landowners to help identify new ideas and opportunities for making the national forest estate work harder.

The national forest estate is worth around £850 million and currently covers nearly 10 per cent of Scotland’s land mass. It has the potential to be at the forefront of Scotland’s drive towards a ‘carbon lean’ future.

Michael Russell, says: ‘As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling climate change, we have undertaken to implement a world-leading 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2050. We also want to see 50% of all Scotland’s energy produced from renewable sources by 2020.

‘Scotland’s forests are one of our greatest natural assets and also hold huge potential for greener energy. This consultation holds the key to unlocking that potential.

‘It also holds the key to more investment in industry and more jobs. In the current economic climate, we must do all we can to support the industries that are the lifeblood of the rural economy and rural communities.

‘The national forest estate has a crucial contribution to make towards a greener and a wealthier Scotland. Today is a major step towards both and crucially will give local people a real say in how we get there.

‘We are looking for creative ideas and solutions to take this forward, so it’s important that we hear as many views as possible. This is the first step in developing a new approach to forestry in Scotland.’

The consultation invites comments on innovative suggestions including:

  • establishing joint ventures with communities or the private sector to develop renewable sources of energy on the national forest estate
  • how best the national forest estate can contribute to achieving a total of 10,000 hectares of new woodland per year – woodland that will lock up 1.2m tonnes of carbon per year by 2050 and also help to create new jobs
  • the possible creation of a not-for-profit Trust to bring renewed vigour to the task of woodland creation.

This makes no specific reference to the potential leasing of one quarter of the national forest estate so a great deal more information is needed.

Comments on the consultation paper can be submitted until 27 January 2009 and a copy of the paper is available at the Forestry Commission Scotland website.

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Argyll’s new ‘Heroes of Telemark’ – four beaver families, fly into Heathrow, bound for Knapdale in The Scottish Beaver Trial

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There have been no beavers in Scotland for 400 years but last night (20th November) four families, prepared especially in Norway, flew into Heathrow at the start of a process which will see them established at Knapdale in Argyll.

They will go into quarantine for six months before being released at a specially selected site in the Spring of 2009 in The Scottish Beaver Trial.

The beavers were captured in the Telemark area of Norway and each family is one adult male and female with between one and three kits – or yearlings.

Their release will be the UK’s first-ever formal reintroduction of a native mammal into the wild and is being carried out under the joint aegis of the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

Their capture itself was complex. Iain Valentine, from the Royal Zoological Society explains that the team in Norway had to spend a long time identifying complete family groups to make sure that none were left behind. Then, because beavers are primarily active at night, the families had to be tracked from boats patrolling the river and caught in the dark.

When the families are released, Scottish Natural Heritage will monitor the situation to assess the beavers’ environmental impact; and the project partners with Forestry Commission Scotland will oversee the project.

It has taken a long time for permission to be granted for this trial. The landowning lobby was strongly against it and is a powerful voice. But this is a major victory for Argyll, adding significantly to its already rich biodiversity, the best in the UK.

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Improved access to Helensburgh’s Duchess Wood

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For the past ten years Argyll and Bute Council, sponsor of Duchess Wood in Helensburgh, has worked to develop the wood’s network of paths and bridges and make it easier for the public to use this local nature reserve. Duchess Wood is one of only forty-nine local nature reserves in Scotland and was formally opened by Magnus Magnusson in 1998. It is now a popular local facility and attraction for tourists. Local schools use it for nature studies and a special schools educational pack about the wood has been developed by Forestry Commission Scotland with local teachers.

Around 50 people attended a lunchtime buffet celebrating the development of access to the wood. The buffet was provided by Provost William Petrie OBE, JP, DL. Councillor Al Reay, Chairman of the Duchess Wood Local Nature Reserve Committee, paid tribute to the Council, Luss Estates, Lower Clyde Greenspace and local voluntary groups, particularly the Helensburgh and District Access Forum (which constructed several of the paths and a bridge), the Friends of Duchess Wood and the Helensburgh Green Belt Group for the hard work, partnership and funding brought together to reach this stage of development.