Policies and benefits
Implementing land use change at this scale will not be easy. Forestry must be at the forefront of our climate policies. It will require more than money; strong political will and significantly improved civil service skills, experience, and capacity to support woodland creation applications, especially in England and Wales. We need policies and support systems that encourage landowners to plant trees and manage forests sustainably while ensuring local communities are engaged and supportive.
The Government’s ‘Growing the Future: 2021-26’ document outlines Forestry England’s five-year plan and priorities for sustainably managing the nation’s forests. It includes financial incentives for woodland creation, streamlined planning processes, and technical support for landowners for sustainable woodland creation and management to boost productivity. So far, however, all countries across the UK are behind their stated planting targets, especially in England and Wales, where figures are not just well behind—they have planted virtually no meaningful areas of productive commercial forestry, which our nation so desperately requires.
But we also need to invest in skills and training to build a workforce capable of managing and processing this increased timber supply. Crucially, these policies must be long-term and stable, providing the certainty needed for businesses to invest and for forests, which are inherently long-term projects, to be planted and managed sustainably.
If we get this right, the benefits for UK productivity are substantial. We can store millions of tonnes of carbon in new forests, create thousands of green jobs in the forestry sector, and produce the sustainable, low-carbon building materials needed for the next generation of high-quality, affordable homes in the UK.
The foregoing simply considers the benefits of forestry and timber to the future green economy; however, the UK’s woodlands, both commercial and native, provide a myriad of wider societal benefits—from biodiversity to flood attenuation and public access—making it truly sustainable.
We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape our landscapes for the better, creating a more sustainable, productive economy in the process. The potential is there. Realizing it depends on the choices we make now.
