Question reference: S6W-01806
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 23 July 2021
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Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 August 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a strategic wood-use policy, and, if so, what this is.
Answer
One of the three overarching objectives within Scotland’s Forestry Strategy 2019-29 is to Increase the contribution of forests and woodlands to Scotland’s sustainable and inclusive economic growth , with Improving efficiency and productivity, and developing markets identified as one of the six priority areas for action.
Scotland’s Forestry Strategy Implementation Plan 2022-22 includes a commitment to: Support the Scottish Forest and Timber Technologies Industry Leadership Group to deliver its strategy “Roots for Further Growthand increase the sector’s contribution to inclusive economic growth ; and a further commitment to: Work with construction industry professionals and others to identify opportunities to increase the use of wood products in construction .
As part of the current Programme for Government, we are committed to increasing the annual volume of Scottish timber going into construction from 2.2 million cubic meters in 2018 to 2.6 million cubic meters by 2022. We are working in partnership with the forestry sector to deliver this target by supporting research into timber engineering, increasing the understanding of timber as a building material among architects and supporting efforts to increase demand for home grown wood products through the Wood for Good initiative.