Woodland and Forestry
Changes to National Forest Land Scheme
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- Friday, 19 November 2010 12:13 Tamsin Morris Hits: 512
Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) has made some changes to its National Forest Land Scheme.
The changes are designed to give communities more opportunities to manage woodlands for community benefit. Community groups can now lease land for forestry purposes (previously it could only be leased for non-forestry purposes) which will allow them to manage the land for a minimum of 25 years. There's also an option to approach FCS directly about leasing or acquiring land for community renewable projects. Groups will also get an 18 month period to prepare plans for renewable projects, before needing to find the capital for land purchase. This should allow access to the land for the preparation of feasibility studies etc, whilst purchase can wait until after planning permission is secured.
You can read the full details of the new scheme here. And for a view of how community engagement with forestry has worked to date, there's a recently published review which you can find on the Community Woodland Association website.
