Environment, Food and Rural Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by BSW Timber

i. BSW Timber is the UK’s largest domestic sawmilling group, processing around fifteen% of the UK’s annual timber harvest. The group has an annual turnover in excess of £163 million, directly employing over 900 people; indirect employment in timber harvesting and haulage accounts for another 2,500 jobs. The company has six mills across the UK (and one in Latvia). It has been involved in sawmilling since 1848.

ii. BSW is currently implementing a five-year capital investment programme, worth £52 million, in modernising the mills and expanding capacity to produce more than 1.3 million m3. As such it is one of the largest buyers of timber in the UK.

iii. Access to sustainable, productive woodland is vital to BSW’s continuing operation and the company has been built on the basis of consistent access to a sustainable and long-term supply of timber. This supply requires the effective management of sustainable, productive UK forestry. Tree health is therefore an area of specific concern for the company as the spread of pests and diseases can significantly impact access to the woodland needed for sawmilling and seriously alter the domestic timber market.

iv. Chalara fraxinea and its potentially devastating impact on the UK’s ash population have been given significant attention in recent weeks. However, it is important to note that Chalara fraxinea is not the only tree disease currently threatening the UK’s forests and the industries that are dependent on access to sustainable domestic timber. Other diseases such as Phytophthora ramorum and dothistroma are becoming increasingly prevalent across the UK and threaten the diversity and health of British woodlands. Both of these diseases are of particular concern to BSW as they have directly impacted on the UK timber market and the company’s operations.

v. As tree disease becomes more prevalent, radical harvesting measures have been implemented to the extent that species substitution in the normal annual harvesting programme will change the balance of species brought to market. As a result there has been a need to adopt different processing and marketing strategies for BSW’s sawmills, an expensive and time-consuming process which challenges the confidence of the company’s customer base. In Scotland, a market impact task group, chaired by Hamish Macleod, is currently examining this impact more broadly, to assist in more effective planning. It is positive that there is discussion of a similar approach in England and Wales and it is essential that the Government encourages this activity.

Are the roles and responsibilities of public agencies for monitoring incidences of plant and tree diseases or pests sufficiently clearly defined?

vi.In the past there have been administrative issues which may have led to a lack of clarity within public agencies in terms of the roles and responsibilities for monitoring and reporting incidences of plant and tree diseases and pests. This in turn has led to a lack of clarity regarding subsequent actions to tackle threats and outbreaks. This situation appears to have improved since the recent Chalara fraxinea outbreak however it is important that work is ongoing to continue improvements and ensure that current and future tree disease and pest threats are dealt with fully and in good time.

Are the Defra, Forestry Commission and Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) contingency plans for managing a disease outbreak, such as Chalara fraxinea, adequate and appropriate to control its spread and mitigate the impacts of disease?

vii. In order to prevent substantial disease and pest outbreaks from occurring in the first place there needs to be more robust control of imported plants. Whilst some of the spread of disease is beyond the control of human intervention, greater vigilance may have abated the worst effects of current disease outbreaks. Once a disease is established it is too late and effective monitoring and controls need to be in place before, to identify the early introduction of a disease to the UK.

viii. It is also important that these controls and contingency plans take into account the impact of tree disease from a commercial perspective, beyond the growers, and do not just focus on the environmental, recreational side of the problem. BSW has had to adapt its processing and marketing strategies significantly as a direct result of changes to the timber market caused by tree diseases. For example, in recent years phytophthora ramorum has had a serious impact on larch, causing more larch to be harvested at the expense of the Sitka spruce used by BSW. As a result of this BSW has had to adapt its processing and marketing strategies to take into account the increased influx of larch into the market and the reduced availability of Sitka spruce which was an expensive and time consuming process.

How effective is co-ordination between agencies such as Natural England, the Forestry Commission and Fera?

ix. The Forestry Commission is a vital partner for the commercial timber sector in terms of provision of the support and access to sustainable, productive woodland necessary for the sector’s operations. The Forestry Commission is also a vital source of research and expertise on tree pests and diseases which is invaluable to companies like BSW.

x. Effective co-ordination between the three agencies is essential for combatting tree diseases and pests. Overall there is sufficient co-ordination but there also needs to be an effective link from these bodies to the Government so that immediate action can be taken should an urgent threat be identified. Action on Chalara was not taken soon enough by the Government and if this, and other tree diseases, are to be contained and eventually eradicated it is essential that these agencies have access to the Government and that it remains vigilant on this issue.

Are there sufficient resources for research to provide effective evidence on the emergence of new threats to trees and plants and for management of existing threats? Is there sufficient coordination of research effort and does the UK have an adequate pool of the right skills to draw upon?

xi. It is positive that the Government’s leading scientists are arguing for an increased budget for plant health and the Government should take action on this front. The UK has a good skill set in this area although further development of skill sets should be supported.

xii. The Forestry Commission is an excellent source of research resources although BSW has some concerns that the co-ordination in this area may suffer as a result of the changes to the Forestry Commission that are currently underway in Wales. It is important that once the merger of Forestry Commission Wales into Natural Resources Wales is complete that co-ordination in terms of research and action on tree diseases and pests is maintained with Forestry Commission GB and Forestry Commission England and Scotland.

Are sufficient resources being put into developing effective responses to plant health threats, such as improving resistance, biocontrols and chemical or management responses?

xiii. There needs to be an increased budget for plant health to help improve the availability of resources used to develop effective responses to plant health threats. There is always a need for further research into these areas so that plant health threats can be identified and combatted before they become serious.

Does the international regime for trade in plants and the EU plant health framework provide a sufficiently flexible and responsive framework to respond to newly identified pests and diseases or to those that are spreading? Can these regimes impede stronger import controls?

xiv. BSW is not qualified to comment on this.

Are plant health controls sufficiently broad to cover trade in tree and plant products such as biofuels?

xv. In general plant health controls are sufficiently broad to cover trade in tree and plant products. However, there needs to be further consideration of the potential risks that importations of biomass wood fuel feedstocks can pose to tree and plant health. There needs to be a clear policy in this area.

What lessons are being learnt in the UK from the management of Chalara dieback of ash in other EU Member States: for example on trade in plants, management of infected trees including saplings, and development of resistant trees?

xvi. The UK already has a good reputation for developing resistant trees. It is key that diversity in provenance and variety within a species are ensured. A scorched earth approach to treatment risks the inadvertent destruction of resistant stock and although this has been recognised by the Forestry Commission it is important that Government and other public bodies also understand this.

January 2013