RSE - tree planting inquiry evidence - Roger Crofts 2024

However, the carbon in the woody biomass needs to be added to the SOC for a full comparison, although the importance of SOC as part of the total needs to be noted. [...] Do you have evidence on the role tree species choice and composition have in influencing biodiversity, timber production, flood management, and other outcomes? Do the species of trees and the mix of species help, hinder or change the balance of the benefits being sought? [500 words] Response: From personal observations, yes there is a clear difference. [...] The result was that the commercial planting was hidden behind the hill with planting using mechanical mounding and surrounded by a large fence and with downhill ploughing for ground preparation on the face of the hill as seen from the village of St John’s Town of Dalry. [...] The work undertaken in Galloway, for example by the Glenkens and District Trust and by the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere are exemplars of how the combination of communities of interest can and should work together to provide an integrated approach to land use change that benefits all interests rather than just the commercial forestry interests and their ‘sponsors’ in Scottish For. [...] This is not helped by the fact that Scottish Forestry is both the government’s ‘sponsor’ for the forestry industry and for meeting the planting targets and the regulator of conditions as part of its grant aid role.