New report argues Scotland benefits from forestry and timber - Confor

An important new report has confirmed that the modest investment the Scottish Government makes in forestry delivers significant benefits for Scotland, including economic growth, rural employment, climate action and biodiversity.

Crucially, the report also critiques and rebuffs the conclusions of the inquiry into public financial support for tree planting and forestry conducted by Professor Ian Wall FRSE for the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) in 2024.

The new analysis has been written by Dr Andrew Cameron, Emeritus Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen’s Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences.

“I strongly welcome this report,” said Confor CEO Stuart Goodall. “It highlights the significant public value delivered by the Scottish Government’s support for the forestry sector, which remains a long-term national asset for Scotland. It also provides a comprehensive critique of the RSE report. When it was published, I stated clearly that I believed the report to be deeply flawed and quoted a number of experienced academics in support of that view. This further, in-depth critique by Dr Cameron is very timely given that we have unfortunately seen some people in political circles being influenced by the RSE report.”