Publication - FOI/EIR release

Native woodland plantation in Dunvegan: EIR release

Published: 1 November 2022
Topic: Farming and rural, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202200318414
Date received: 31 August 2022
Date responded: 27 September 2022

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Information requested

I'm writing to request information on a native woodland plantation in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. The case reference for the project on Scottish Forestry is: 20FGS50223.

I'd like to request access to:

The funding application for the woodland ref 20FGS50223.
The criteria used by the Scottish Government to approve funding for the project.
Information on the carbon capture the woodland is going to deliver.

Response

Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response to your request

The funding application for the woodland ref 20FGS50223.

I have attached copies of the information we hold in relation to your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal data relating to a third party) applies to some of the information you have requested. This information has been redacted in the attached documents.

The reasons why these exceptions apply are explained in Annex A to this letter.

The criteria used by the Scottish government to approve funding for the project.

The scoring criteria for the Forestry Grant Scheme can be found on the Rural Payments and Services website here:
https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/forestry-grant-scheme/forestry-grant-scheme-full-guidance-menu/forestry-grant-scheme---scoring-criteria/

Information on the carbon capture the woodland is going to deliver.

In this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because we do not calculate, or require applicants to calculate, expected carbon capture for individual woodland creation applications, so this information is not held.

For a general overview of carbon capture by woodlands, Forest Research have recently published a paper on CO2 uptake by different kinds of woodlands, which is summarised and linked on our website here:
https://forestry.gov.scot/news-releases/new-report-sheds-light-on-carbon-sequestration-and-different-woodlands

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.