Information note - No. 56

The Forestry Research Coordination Committee met on 2 November 2000 at the Building Research Establishment, Cardington.

Expenditure on forestry and tree-related research

Total expenditure on forestry and tree-related research in Britain, collated by FRCC* will amount to c £27 Million in the year ending March 2001 (Table 1). This represents an increase of c. £4.5M on the 99/00 expenditure. This increase is in part the result of two additional organisations providing data this year, but also reflects more expenditure by the agriculture departments, DETR & EA, the conservation organisations, NERC and particularly DFID (Table 2). The number of projects for which costs and other details are included in the collation has improved in recent years with better use of databases. There is, nevertheless, a clear indication that total expenditure is returning to similar levels to those of the early 90s. The subject area categories have been updated this year to reflect current policy objectives more closely and expenditure by subject area are shown in table 3 using new categories for the year ending March 2001. The increase in research spend this year have been mainly on the subject areas Tropical, Environmental Interactions and Wood Utilisation & Processing. Projects are only assigned to one subject area so that cross cutting projects create problems of definition. For example, a significant number of the projects identified as Forest Resources and Silviculture address crop management and assessment in relation to timber quality. This problem does not arise for analysis by keyword since projects can have up to four keywords and the full project costs are associated with each. Analysis of the database over a number of years by keyword (table 4) shows trends which reflect the linkage of research expenditure with forestry policy. Over the last few years less has been spent on air pollution and genetic engineering, expenditure has been consistent on conservation, tree selection and vertebrates and has increased on short rotation coppice, climate change and on timber properties & pulping.

* Note that this excludes some activities that are classified as research in other Collations.

The Scottish Forestry Strategy

The Scottish Forestry Strategy was launched in November 2000 and there will also be strategies for Wales and Northern Ireland in due course (the English Forestry Strategy has already been published). The Scottish Forestry Strategy sets out a vision of Scotland renowned for its fine trees, woods and forests which strengthen the economy and enrich the natural environment. Key themes of the Strategy are to:-

• Maximise the value of the trees we already have, bearing in mind that Scotland’s timber production will double over the next 10 years;

• Create diverse forests for the future.

• Make a positive contribution to the environment.

• Provide opportunities for more people to enjoy trees woods and forests.

• Help communities benefit from woods and forests.

These themes will influence research priorities with issues like timber quality, social forestry, grey squirrel control and the proportion of reforestation in areas sensitive to acidification being important. The Committee also discussed the new Scottish Enterprise publication ‘Roots for growth, a strategic framework for action for the Scottish Forest Industries’. Three themes are raised:-

• Promoting innovation.

• Market and business development.

• Infra-structure development

FRCC Workshops

The issues raised at FRCC’s workshop on ‘Broadleaved Tree Improvement’ (September 2000) were considered by the Committee and the written report of the workshop has now been distributed to participants. The next FRCC workshop will be in July 2001 and will consider the contribution which the social sciences can make ensuring that forests deliver social benefits.

Timber certification and sourcing of home-grown timber.

There are international and UK requirements for timber products to be sourced from sustainably managed forests. The UK Woodland Assurance Scheme (UKWAS) certification standard was agreed in June 1999 and this gives access to the Forest Stewardship Council logo. The achievement of concensus on a standard for certification means that products from UK forests are widely recognised as sustainable. As more products are proved to come from sustainable sources, the message that wood is sustainable and should be preferred over other materials will become stronger.

Table 1
Total expenditure on forestry research over the last 10 years. Annual costs are shown as actual expenditure in the year and also adjusted to £s 00/01. The numbers of organisations which submitted data in each year are also shown.

Table 2
Estimated expenditure on forestry research by FRCC member organisations in the last four years. (£000s in £s 97/8, 98/9, 99/00 and 00/01).

AGRICS: Includes – Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (MAFF), Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department (SOAEFD), Welsh Office Agriculture Department (WOAD), and Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (DANI).

DETR & EA: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Environment Agency.

DFID: Department for International Development

FC: Forestry Commission

CON: Nature conservation bodies: Countryside Agency, English Nature & Scottish Natural Heritage, Countryside Council for Wales.

NERC: Natural Environment Research Council.

BBSRC: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

SFT: Scottish Forestry Trust

EU: European Union.

OTHERS: Many other sponsoring organisations including other universities, DTI (ETSU), ESRC, Commercial, etc).

Table 3
Estimates of costs by subject area for 97/8, 98/9, 99/00 and 00/01 (£000s in £s 97/8, 98/9, 99/00 and 00/01)

Table 4
The ten keywords with greatest cost in the last three years (£000s in £s 98/9, 99/00 and 00/01). Note projects have a number of keywords so that project costs may be shown more than once.