Scotland's Forestry Strategy 2019–2029

A vision for forestry in Scotland

In the last 100 years, Scotland’s forest cover has increased from around 5% of the country’s land cover to 18.5% in 2018. This greatly expanded and valuable resource needs careful and considered stewardship to ensure that we make the most use of it, and also enhance it for the future.

Considering that the productive lifespan of trees in Scotland generally ranges from 30–150 years, in this Strategy we take a long-term approach. We are setting out how we will grow trees now to meet the needs of Scotland’s people and communities until 2070 and beyond. To steer our approach we have adopted an ambitious long-term vision to drive action across the public and private sectors, in a shared national endeavour, to deliver more from Scotland’s forests and woodlands.

Our 50-year vision for forestry in Scotland

In 2070, Scotland will have more forests and woodlands, sustainably managed and better integrated with other land uses. These will provide a more resilient, adaptable resource, with greater natural capital value, that supports a strong economy, a thriving environment, and healthy and flourishing communities.

Objectives for the next 10 years

To support our 50-year vision, we have identified three objectives which this strategy must deliver over the next 10 years.

Scotland’s Forestry Objectives

• Increase the contribution of forests and woodlands to Scotland’s sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
• Improve the resilience of Scotland’s forests and woodlands and increase their contribution to a healthy and high quality environment.
• Increase the use of Scotland’s forest and woodland resources to enable more people to improve their health, well-being and life chances.

To achieve this, forestry policies and practice will be developed and implemented as part of the integrated approach presented in the Scottish Government’s Land Use Strategy^[2].

Figure 4 shows how our vision and objectives support the aims and objectives of the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework^[1].

FIGURE 4 The linkages between our vision and objectives for forestry, key Scottish Government National Outcomes, and the associated UN Sustainable Development Goals^[17].