Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Funding boost for woodland planting

Farmers have been encouraged by Forestry Commission Scotland to integrate woodlands into their land use
Farmers have been encouraged by Forestry Commission Scotland to integrate woodlands into their land use

The Scottish Government has trebled funding for tree-planting schemes in the Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN) area which stretches from Fife to Ayrshire.

The money has been committed after farmers were encouraged by Forestry Commission Scotland to integrate woodlands into farming, leading to around 2500ha of woodlands being planned this year. If they all come to fruition it will be the highest tree planting level in the area for almost 20 years.

The news comes in the week the UK Government announced a commitment to tree planting in its 25-year environmental plan.

Scottish Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing announced the extra budget to the network which he said was regarded as an essential element for Scotland’s long-term economic recovery.

“The aim is to restore and transform the area’s landscape, making it a better place to live and do business in,” he said.

“I am very pleased to see woodland creation activity at such high levels – it is very encouraging news and I congratulate all for the hard work in achieving this. I am especially pleased to note the high level of applications from farmers and landowners wishing to integrate more woodland into their existing businesses to improve their viability.

“We need to keep up this impetus.   I have therefore trebled the funding available for the CSGN contribution and adjusted the grant rates so we can support more applications  and up to 1,000 additional hectares per year.”

Meanwhile a snapshot of the standing value of commercial conifer timber has shown price stability in the market in the six months to September 2017.

However the report by land agents Bidwells, indicates that shortages in supply could force prices up.

The Bidwells timber price database records the prices paid in 75 transactions covering almost 615,000 cubic metres of timber traded mainly in Scotland, but with some information from Northern England and Wales.

The company’s head of forestry, Raymond Henderson said that compared to the returns in a report for the previous six months, there appeared to be little significant change in the prices paid.

“But this picture is perhaps not being backed up by current reports of supply shortages and increasing upwards pressure on standing sales values,” he added.

“Clearly, the range of prices being achieved for individual lots of similar average tree size is vast, and this will depend on factors such as species, timber quality, location and ease of working.”

nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk