The Scottish Government must plant more trees to secure the future of Scotland's £1 billion forestry and timber industry, according to the sector's leading trade body.
In a five-point forestry action plan ahead of the Holyrood elections, Confor issues a rallying cry for new planting - and warns the target of 100,000 hectares of new woodland in Scotland in the decade to 2022 is is serious danger of being missed.
Confor's manifesto Forestry and Timber: Growing a Resilient Scotland calculates that the original target of 10,000 hectares (ha) of annual planting over a decade now needs to be increased to 13,000ha annually to reach 100,000ha by 2022.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pledged to hit the target in a major speech in late 2015, saying: "We are committed to increase planting rates even further so that we plant 100,000 hectares of trees in the decade to 2022. That would be equivalent to 200 million new trees."
Stuart Goodall, chief executive of Confor, welcomed the commitment and said: "Planting underpins everything - if we can hit these targets, very substantial economic, environmental and social benefits will flow from that. If we don't, we are in danger of falling into the 'timber gap' - a long-term drop-off in supply which could damage confidence, reduce investment and jeopardise jobs and businesses."
A report in late 2015 showed that the forestry and timber sector in Scotland is now worth £1 billion and supports well over 25,000 direct jobs with employee numbers rising dramatically during the economic downturn - a period of strong timber supplies due to historic planting.
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