- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates to be the gross value added from direct visitor spend attributable to woodland visits in the public forest estate.
Answer
The estimated total spend per year by visitors to the national forest estate in Scotland is £38.9 million. This figure was calculated from the All Forests Visitor Monitoring Survey which was carried out between June 2004 and June 2007.
The report can be viewed on the Forestry Commission website at:
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7d9fn7.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the income was to Forest Enterprise Scotland from sales of timber in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05, (c) 2005-06, (d) 2006-07 and (e) 2007-08.
Answer
Details of Forest Enterprise Scotland''s income from sales of timber in the past five years are listed in the following table:
Income from Timber Sales
| Year | Amount |
| 2003-04 | £32.3 million |
| 2004-05 | £35.4 million |
| 2005-06 | £34.9 million |
| 2006-07 | £36.7 million |
| 2007-08 | £42.1 million |
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed in the public forest estate.
Answer
The number of staff currently employed by Forest Enterprise Scotland, the part of Forestry Commission Scotland which manages the national forest estate, is 779.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of new woodlands have been created in each of the last five years by the (a) public and (b) private sector.
Answer
The total amount of hectares of new woodland that have been created in each of the last five years are listed in the following tables. Figures for restocking are also shown.
Public Sector
| Year | New Planting | Restocking | Total (1,000 Hectares) |
| 2003-04 | 0.1 | 5.3 | 5.4 |
| 2004-05 | 0.1 | 6.2 | 6.3 |
| 2005-06 | 0.1 | 5.2 | 5.3 |
| 2006-07 | - | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| 2007-08 | - | 5.9 | 5.9 |
Private Sector
| Year | New Planting | Restocking | Total (1,000 Hectares) |
| 2003-04 | 6.7 | 3.6 | 10.3 |
| 2004-05 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 9.8 |
| 2005-06 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 7.7 |
| 2006-07 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 12.6 |
| 2007-08 | 4.2 | 6.7 | 10.8 |
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to transfer responsibility for management and development of the forest estate under the lease arrangements proposed in its paper Climate Change and the National Forest Estate - Consultation on forestry provisions in the Scottish Climate Change Bill.
Answer
Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on
Climate Change and the National Forest Estate at
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM.
The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.
The consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland''s deliberations on the detail of lease arrangements, should the option be taken forward.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to transfer responsibility for forest planning under the lease arrangements proposed in its paper Climate Change and the National Forest Estate - Consultation on forestry provision in the Scottish Climate Change Bill.
Answer
Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on
Climate Change and the National Forest Estate at:
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM.
The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.
The consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland''s deliberations on the detail of lease arrangements, should the leasing option be taken forward.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to transfer responsibility for forest protection and maintenance under the lease arrangements proposed in its paper Climate Change and the National Forest Estate - Consultation on forestry provisions in the Scottish Climate Change Bill.
Answer
Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on
Climate Change and the National Forest Estate at:
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM.
The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.
The consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland''s deliberations on the detail of lease arrangements, should the leasing option be taken forward.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of the impact on black grouse in Dumfries and Galloway of leasing out parts of the national forest estate and whether it will publish any such assessment.
Answer
Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on
Climate Change and the National Forest Estate at
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM.
The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.
No assessment has been made of the impact on black grouse in Dumfries and Galloway. However, the consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland''s deliberations on the potential impact on all biodiversity and wildlife within the national forest estate, and this will help determine the range and nature of safeguards to be included in any leases.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to transfer responsibility for upkeep and development of forest roads under the lease arrangements proposed in its paper Climate Change and the National Forest Estate - Consultation on forestry provisions in the Scottish Climate Change Bill.
Answer
Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on
Climate Change and the National Forest Estate at:
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM.
The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.
The consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland''s deliberations on the detail of lease agreements, should the leasing option be taken forward.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 12 December 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of the impact on fisheries of leasing out parts of the national forest estate in Dumfries and Galloway and whether it will publish any such assessment.
Answer
Offering management leases and cutting rights is a potential option for releasing capital from the national forest estate which could be used to fund woodland creation projects to help mitigate climate change. This option is included in a public consultation currently being carried out on
Climate Change and the National Forest Estate at
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7KUMVM.
The consultation closes on 27 January 2009. All responses will be carefully considered and will be taken into account as part of a wider options review being carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland.
No assessment has been made of the impact on fisheries in Dumfries and Galloway. However, the consultation exercise and options review will help inform Forestry Commission Scotland''s deliberations on the potential impact on all biodiversity and wildlife within the national forest estate, and this will help determine the range and nature of safeguards to be included in any leases.
