Rural Scotland People, Prosperity and Partnership

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Farm and Crofter Forestry

Woodlands on farms and croft land can provide an additional source of income for those directly involved and conservation benefits for the community at large. The Government has sought to encourage farmers and crofters by:

• Providing financial assistance, in the form of annual payments, to take land out of agricultural production and convert it to woodland through the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme. These payments are in addition to the planting grants available through the Forestry Commission Woodland Grant Scheme and in just over 3 years since the Scheme was launched some 1,000 applications have been approved representing over 15,000 hectares of new woodlands.

• Supporting legislation, the Crofters Forestry (Scotland) Act 1991 which provided for crofters' common grazings committees to plant woodland on the common grazings subject to the approval of the landlord and the Crofters Commission and thereby permitting them to benefit from forestry grants.

• Providing financial assistance to farmers in Environmentally Sensitive Areas to exclude stock from areas of semi-natural woodland to encourage regeneration.

• Negotiating a change in the rules of the Arable Area Payments Scheme which allows farmers to count arable land entered into the Woodland Grant and Farm Woodland Premium Schemes towards their set-aside obligations.