5Getting the most out of forests and woodland
44.We discussed with the Minister in evidence the role of the Government in maximising the social, economic and environmental benefits from forests and woodland. She explained that it was “for the market to decide that they want to do more with wood in this country”.81 In this Chapter we discuss possible Government interventions which could encourage the market to make greater use of wood in England.
Softwood
Projected decline of softwood
45.There are two main types of wood from trees: softwood (from coniferous trees such as spruces, pines and cedars) and hardwood (from deciduous trees such as oak and maple).
46.A Report by the Forestry Commission on softwood availability between 2013–16 and 2057–61 explained that availability of softwood would fall after the period 2027–2031:
Potential softwood availability changes over the period of the forecast; it increases from an average of 16.5 million m3 per annum in the period 2013–16, rising to a maximum of 18.4 million m3 per annum in 2027–31, after which it falls away then levels out, reaching an average of 12.2 million m3 per annum in 2057–61.82
We discussed the possible decline in the availability of softwood with our witnesses.
Hardwood vs softwood
47.The National Forest Company explained that there was a misguided perception among foresters on the respective value of hardwood and softwood. This perception was possibly influencing what types of trees landowners were planting, but:
To look at hardwoods as being attractive and softwoods as being unattractive and commercial is the wrong way to look at it. I believe you can manage softwood plantations by mix-planting, by planting different species, by well managed edgeplanting, so they create a benefit to the landscape.83
The Royal Forestry Society and the CLA84 agreed with this assessment.85
48.This projected decline in availability of softwood was a cause for concern with our witnesses. The CLA explained how the projected decline in softwood availability had been as a result of Government policy favouring hardwoods to the extent that softwood planting “has almost been demonised”. The CLA went on to explain this policy approach as:
very short-sighted and unfortunate, because it has meant that where we potentially had a resource that was continuing to grow and support a fairly vibrant saw milling and processing industry, there is now going to be a period of about 20 years where the resource will be really difficult for those guys to access.86
49.The Forestry Commission acknowledged that Government policy, particularly grants, had for some time favoured hardwoods and had caused the decline in softwood, but noted that:
What we are now working towards is a much better balance. From a grants perspective, we have the Countryside Stewardship grant, which now supports broadleaf and conifers at the same rate, which the previous scheme did not.87
50.In a similar vein the Royal Forestry Society advocated a need to balance the planting of softwoods and hardwoods and explained: “If we were truly serious about balancing the books, we would have a 50:50 mix”.88 When we put this to the Minister she told us “We can always skew schemes, but it is whether we think that that is desirable and what the best way is to use public money in that regard”.89 She went on to explain that the Woodland Creation Planning Grant and the Woodland Carbon Fund generally incentivised softwood planting.
51.Confor told us that introducing measures to increase the availability of softwoods would have the benefit of providing timber resource for building more houses:
Currently, the UK is near the bottom of the table for using timber frame housing, despite the need for at least 200,000 new homes every year. By invigorating this sector, houses could be built more quickly and cheaply and require far less energy after construction.90
52.In the Government’s recent White Paper Fixing our broken housing market (‘Housing White Paper’) the Government acknowledged that there was a housing shortage and pledged to build more homes which were affordable, with the Prime Minister noting in her foreword to that paper that “housing is increasingly unaffordable”, and the “starting point [to this] is to build more homes”.91
53.We are concerned that the availability of softwood is projected to fall after the period 2027–2031. We are especially concerned as softwood has many uses, including being a suitable resource for building more houses. Previous incentives have not been favourable to softwoods. We welcome the introduction recently of grant schemes which have been more favourable to softwoods such as the Woodland Creation Planning Grant and the Woodland Carbon Fund, which also has a consequential benefit of carbon sequestration. We recommend that the Government continues with the Woodland Creation Planning Grant and the Woodland Carbon Fund to incentivise further softwood planting. We further recommend that the Government introduce additional incentives to encourage 50:50 mixed planting of softwoods and hardwoods.
Timber
54.Timber from woodlands can have many economic, environmental and social benefits and there is a large demand for timber in England. The Royal Forestry Society told us that “The UK currently imports 80% of the wood it consumes and is the third biggest timber importer in the world behind Japan and China”.92 This demand for imported timber has the potential to increase with the projected decline in availability of softwood after the period 2027–2031 (see paragraphs 45 to 53).
55.The Forestry Commission explained some of the benefits of using home-grown timber relating to the building trade and the environment: “The best thing to do with the timber, when it is time to fell the forest, is to build it into a house or something like that, because then you have continued to lock up the carbon”.93 Confor told us further benefits of using home-grown timber included stimulating business growth, encouraging more woodland into management and assisting with housebuilding.94 The National Coppice Federation and Coppice Association North West in their joint submission advocated that using home-grown timber also helped to better manage pests and disease entering the UK.95 The Institute of Chartered Foresters explained how timber framed houses represented a “quicker fix”, “more attractive” housing and a “cheaper to heat” house.96
56.Witnesses also told us that the market needed reassurance that there would be long term demand for timber.97 The Woodland Trust specifically called for a Government commitment to give the timber industry confidence that there would be support for it in the long term:
In terms of supplying that market, it is a long-term commitment, and anything that the Government can do to provide some sense of security in the longer term would be helpful. While it [timber demand] remains simply market-driven, there is not that long-term security that would encourage more planting.98
In written evidence Defra appeared to acknowledge that opportunities existed for the timber industry in future forestry policy telling us that it was important to make “domestic timber more attractive to the market”.99
57.We discussed with the Minister who was representing the forestry sector in cross-department Government policy. She told us that she had had discussions “at a certain level” with Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Ministers, but:
I am not going to pretend that I will be writing the housing procurement policy, but it [using more UK wood] is a nudge towards other Ministers in other Departments to think about how domestic wood could be considered as a really good way to improve [house building].100
58.We note the many economic, environmental and social benefits of using timber from UK forests and woodland to build houses. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Life Opportunities must be more proactive in advocating the needs of the forestry sector with regard to using UK timber for housebuilding. We recommend that Defra should work with the Department for Communities and Local Government to incorporate a UK timber-first approach into English housing procurement policy.
Biomass boilers
59.Hardwoods are perceived by many as a suitable type of wood to use in the wood fuel market and for biomass boilers. The Forestry Commission explained that a lot of hardwood forests and woodland, containing broadleaf trees for example, are unmanaged and while not usable for other purposes such as timber, can be used for biomass:
We have put a lot of work into developing wood fuel markets, because the reality is that the vast majority of that unmanaged woodland is broadleaf woodland and very little of it has timber in it that is usable by the timber industry. […] the majority of it, partly because of neglect, will no longer be in a fit state for timber. If it is going to be managed in any way economically, it is going to start from the firewood market. […] of course [the Renewable Heat Incentive] has supported that, with 20,000 biomass boilers now in the country.101
Defra also made this point in their written evidence.102 Other witnesses agreed that measures such as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) in England have had a consequential benefit of bringing more woodland in to management.103
60.The National Forest Company explained that the introduction of biomass boilers “has given us a market for hardwoods that we did not have 10 years ago”.104 However, this was not the view of all our witnesses. The Institute of Chartered Foresters explained that softwood had been the main source of fuel for RHI-funded biomass boilers because “in most cases, [it is] economically more viable to harvest and process on that sort of scale”.105
61.The RHI has both a domestic and a commercial strand. The domestic strand is more focussed on incentivising the small-scale use of biomass boilers in places like local care homes. The Woodland Trust told us that the domestic strand of the RHI was not a complete success and that people were put off applying “because it is complicated” and it would be “great” if work was undertaken on improving its supply chain.106
62.Defra also attributed the growth in the use of renewable energy, particularly biomass boilers, as being a result of the Renewable Heat Incentive,107 but the Minister in evidence to us stressed that it was not all about the market burning trees in wood-burners and biomass boilers.108
63.It would be possible for the Government to meet its target for increasing the amount of woodland in management by 2018 through the appropriate use of biomass incentives. The Government should review the working of the Renewable Heat Incentive in these terms and look to implement any improvements to its operation.
82 Forestry Commission, NFI Statistical Analysis: 50-year forecast of softwood timber availability, April 2014
91 Department for Communities and Local Government, Fixing our broken housing market, Cm 9352, February 2017
17 March 2017