The forestry and timber industry has warned that because of a fall in planting over the last twenty years that there would be an estimated shortage of commercial timber which would affect the future of over a thousand jobs.

This shortfall means that with not enough trees being planted, then the shortfall will hit in around twenty years time as the growth and maturity of a tree for felling takes around forty years. Even now there does not appear to be large scale planting and re-planting being undertaken and even if it began tomorrow then there would still be a period where the shortfall exists.

The current Scottish government is committed to planting over 145,000 acres of commercial forest by 2022. The industry itself feels that this commitment should be extended with a further 15,000 acres being planted each and every year until 2042. The Forestry Commission Scotland says that that they have ample supplies for the next two decades and more

Even though there will be good supplies for the next twenty years, this Public agency Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) said there were good levels of supply for the next 20 years and that additional stocks would come from private forests to supply the processing facilities.

Well definitely a long term project and only time will tell who is right, but the other side of the planting coin is one like the Lochaber wood. This was damaged during World War II during the training undertook by commando units. The Forestry Commission has agreed to sell an area of the forest so that it can be restored. The group waiting to undertake the project now has eighteen months to raise the required funds. The area is one that is rich in history as well as wildlife and they hope to restore this area of pine  to bring both social and environmental benefits to the remote Lochaber community.

Lets hope that they can raise the funds for an area that is obviously not in the Forestry Commission’s plans. So whether its business planting or more leisure orientated there is plenty to consider in Scotland at the moment.