The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) has today, Monday 24 October, launched an inquiry into the benefits of public support through planting grants, tax allowances and carbon payments for tree planting in Scotland.
- The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) has launched an inquiry into the benefits of public financial support for woodland and forestry in Scotland.
- The inquiry has an open call for evidence submissions covering the economic, social, biodiversity and carbon capture impacts.
- The Inquiry is concerned to explore the interaction both of the different financial supports for forestry and the outcomes for carbon capture, biodiversity, economic and social benefit
The inquiry is calling for all with an interest in land management and forestry, carbon capture, biodiversity and the social and economic wellbeing of rural communities to submit evidence on the outcomes provided by the financial public support, including scientists and academics, farmers and rural landowners, the timber industry, community groups and charities with rural interests.
In recent years, tree planting has gathered significant public and government support, with no other rural land use activity in Scotland receiving, per hectare, the level of public funding devoted to forestry. The inquiry’s findings will help evaluate the effectiveness of current Scottish and UK policy and approaches in delivering economic and social benefits including its impact in capturing carbon, sustaining biodiversity and supporting rural communities.
Professor Ian Wall FRSE, Chair of the Inquiry said:
We are all becoming far more aware of our responsibility in tackling the climate crisis. While initiatives to plant more trees in Scotland are gathering momentum, it is important to evaluate their effectiveness and the financial support they benefit from so as to ensure that there is a balance between the complex interplay of factors, economic, social and environmental and that the public is receiving value for money in delivering vital benefits.
The inquiry will accept evidence submissions until Monday, 5 December 2022 and is expected to publish its findings in Spring 2023.
Extracted from RSE website - read more here