FORESTRY - TO 2020

Tim Rollinson

Director General

Forestry Commission

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FORESTRY - TO 2020

1. Where are we now?

2. Current developments and trajectories

3. Where to focus effort in future

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WHERE HAVE WE COME FROM?

Policy

• Post-war emphasis on production, like agriculture

• Agricultural policy put forestry on marginal land

• Plantation forestry the way forward - as the means of rebuilding the nation’s forest resources

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WHERE HAVE WE COME FROM?

Achievements

• Single purpose objective - expansion

• Forest area more than doubled in 80 years

• 1.5 million hectares of new forests created

• Biggest single land use change in modern times

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WHERE HAVE WE COME FROM?

How?

A powerful machine was created:

• dedicated research programmes

• technological innovation

• operational planning

• committed work force

• private and public sectors working together

• strong government backing

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WHERE HAVE WE COME FROM?

Science and Engineering

• Foresters scoured the world for fast growing species

• Scientific advances - in fertilisation, tree breeding, pesticides, etc

• Engineering solutions - ploughing and cultivation, road building, etc

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WHERE HAVE WE COME FROM?

Changes - last 20 years

• Forestry policy

• Regulation

• Incentives

• Forestry Standards

• Forest management and practice

By the end of the 1990s, forestry’s role insustainable development had become well established

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FC POSITION

• Biggest single producer of timber• Biggest provider of countryside

recreation• Biggest manager of rare and

threatened habitats

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TRENDS

Wood production but levelling

Recreation

Environment

Social use

Costs

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FC INCOME 2006-07

Timber Recreation

England £20 million £14 million

Scotland £37 million £4 million

Wales £9 million £2 million

FC Total £66 million £20 million

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FC - ENCOURAGING MECHANISMS

• Work with the UK timber sector to promote the use of timber and wood products

• Work with private sector to predict wood supplies, and support continued investment in timber processing

• Build confidence in products• Support market development by making the

case for timber with politicians, planners, building regs, developers and architects

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FC - SUPPORTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

• FC spend of £1.4 million on timber related R&D

• Innovative processes and products tailored to UK timber strengths

• Reduction in timber miles, and use of alternative methods of transport to road

• Continuous efficiency improvements in the timber supply chain through e-Business and closer supplier/customer relationships

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DEVELOPMENTS

• Timber frame starts up from 8% in 1998 to 20% in 2006

• Code for Sustainable Houses introduced in April 2007 to drive a step change in sustainable home building practice

• Will become the single national standard for sustainable homes

• Will form basis for future developments in Building Regulation in relation to carbon emissions from, and energy use in, homes

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DEVELOPMENTS (CONT’D)

• Timber certification recognised as a mechanism in ensuring responsible sourcing of materials for construction

• From April 2009 Government departments will purchase only timber and timber products that derive from sustainably managed forests or are licensed under a FLEGT agreement

• From April 2015 only sustainably produced timber will be purchased

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DEVELOPMENTS (CONT’D)

• Housing Green Paper published in July 2007 - 3 million new homes needed by 2020 will 2 million by 2016

• Sustainable construction will have a key role in this programme

• UK Biomass Strategy, England Woodfuel Strategy and Biomass Action Plan for Scotland all published in 2007

• 2012 Olympics have core sustainability targets

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DEVELOPMENTS - CLIMATE CHANGE

THE NUMBER ONE priority because:

• Forests are a PROBLEM - nearly 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions are from deforestation

• Forests provide SOLUTIONS

– forests sequester carbon

– forests help us to adapt to climate change

– wood products store carbon

– wood as a fuel is carbon neutral

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SEQUESTRATION

• Growing trees absorb CO2 and produce O2

• A typical tree absorbs the equivalent of 1 tonne of CO2 for every cubic metre of growth while producing 0.7 tonne of O2

• Europe’s forests store 9.5 billion tonnes CO2

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WOOD ENERGY

• When wood cannot be re-used or re-cycled it can produce energy by burning

• As the CO2 emitted is no more than the amount stored, burning wood is carbon neutral

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WOOD PRODUCTS

• No other commonly used building material requires so little energy to produce as wood

• Because wood products have an ultra-low carbon footprint they can substitute for materials like steel, aluminium, concrete and plastics

• Every m3 of wood as a substitute for other building materials reduces CO2 emissions by 1.1 tonne CO2

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HEADLINE MESSAGES

• Conserve carbon stocks - reduce deforestation

• Manage existing forests sustainably• Restore forest cover - reforestation• Substitute fossil fuel with biomass for energy• Substitute energy intensive materials with

wood products

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ROLE OF SECTOR

• We have the knowledge and expertise• We have the technology• Forest sector has a key role to play

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