Information note - No. 52

The 52nd meeting of the Forestry Research Co-ordination Committee was held on 15 October 1998 at Dover House, Whitehall, London.

Expenditure on forestry and tree-related research

Total expenditure on forestry and tree-related research in Britain, collated by the FRCC on the same basis as last year will amount to almost £21 million in the year ending March 1999. After adjustment for inflation this total expenditure is similar to last year’s. There were more contributors to the database this year and, when funding from new sponsors is excluded, a slight decrease of overall expenditure (£483K) is shown between the years ending March 1999 and March 1998. However it appears that the steady decline in expenditure on forestry research since 1989/90 has slowed. The conservation agencies, EU and commercial organisations have slightly increased expenditure and this increase is offset by slightly lower spends by DETR and EA, NERC and the universities. This year’s planned FC spend with its research agency Forest Research (FR) is equal to the 97/8 spend when expressed in £s 97/8 (£9844K), while FC spend with other suppliers shows a small but real increase (from £532K to £706K in £s 97/8). This year a greater proportion of expenditure has been on tree biology, mensuration and inventory and the environment, offset by slight decreases of spend on biotic damage and wood science. Expenditure has remained at about the same level on genetics and tree improvement, silviculture, harvesting and planning between 1997/8 and 1998/9.

Biodiversity and Conservation-related Forestry Research.

The Committee considered the report and recommendations of the FRCC workshop on biodiversity and conservation-related research which was held in September 1998 at English Nature's HQ in Peterborough. The workshop provided NGOs and the research community with an opportunity to express views on the determination of research priorities and allowed participants to learn more about FRCC and its member organisations. A summary of the workshop report, its recommendations and the FRCC’s response to these will be published early in 1999 as an FRCC Action Report.

The role of the Biodiversity Research Working Group (BRWG) in taking forward the UK Biodiversity Action Plans was presented by Dr S Webster (DETR).

Foresight

The Forestry and Wood Products sub-group of the Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry Panel published a new report in August 1998. The report presents three overall objectives for UK forestry, makes recommendations on supply chain partnerships, national strategy, end-use quality, science priorities and multiple benefits, and invites comments and discussion.

The conclusions from a meeting in August 1998 on Foresight for Forestry and Wood Products were presented to the Committee. This meeting has placed renewed emphasis on communication along the timber supply chain. A DETR-funded workshop on foresighting future construction needs for UK timber was held in October 1998.

The next meeting of FRCC will be on Thursday 18 March 1999.

 December 1998

Tables

Table 1
Total expenditure on forestry research by all FRCC organisations over 10 years (£000 in year’s expenditure and in £s 1997/98). The number of organisations who submitted data in each year is also shown.

Table 2
Estimated expenditure on forestry research by FRCC member organisation in 1997/98 and 1998/99 (£000 in £s 97/8 and 98/9)

Table 3
Estimates of costs by subject area for 1997/8 and 1998/9 (£000s in £s 97/8 and 98/9 respectively). Nb. Projects are only allocated to one area.

Key:

AGRICS - Includes - Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (MAFF), Scottish Office Agriculture, Environmental and Fisheries Department (SOAEFD), Welsh Office Agriculture Department (WOAD), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (DANI).

CON - Nature conservation bodies: Countryside Council for Wales, English Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage.

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

FC - Forestry Commission, FR - Forest Research.

NERC - Natural Environment Research Council.
G&S - Grants and Studentships
Inst - Institutional support, e.g ITE, IH, etc.

UNIV - University forestry departments - Aberdeen, Bangor (Univ. of Wales), Edinburgh and Oxford.

EU - European Union.

OTHERS - Many other sponsoring organisations including other universities, The Scottish Forestry Trust, DTI, ESRC, ETSU, Commercial, etc.