Question reference: S4W-29442
- Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 21 January 2016
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Current status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 1 February 2016
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what upland areas of Scotland have been mapped as suitable for extensive new planting to both absorb water and capture CO2.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold maps specifically showing which upland areas are suitable for new planting for water management and carbon sequestration alone.
However, local authority led regional forestry and woodland strategies use maps to guide the location of new planting in Scotland to deliver a range of objectives, including water management and climate change mitigation. These strategies divide the local authority area into categories for new woodland planting. These categories usually indicate preferred, potential and sensitive areas for new planting and cover both uplands and lowlands.
In addition to forestry and woodland strategies, target areas have been identified within the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s priority catchments where woodland creation would contribute most to water related benefits including flood alleviation and climate change. These maps are used to target enhanced grant support.
Although we do not have specific maps for new planting to sequester carbon, the Scottish Government has mapped all areas of soils with peat exceeding 50 centimetres depth that are unsuitable for planting due to a negative impact on the carbon balance and hydrology of the bog habitat.