Forest-leasing proposals ruled out - 16/03/09

The Scottish Government has ruled out plans to lease off as much as a quarter of the country's publicly-owned forests after concerns were raised about the impact on jobs, wildlife and public access.

A potential £200 million would have been earned from leasing and "cutting rights", with the money earmarked for investment in woodland creation to reach a national target of 25% cover - or an additional 650,000 hectares of woods.

Opposition parties said the proposals were "ill-thought out", and a consultation on the future of Scotland's forests prompted worries over how jobs, wildlife and public access would be affected - as well as the principle of selling cutting rights by leasing sections of public land.

Members of Holyrood's Rural Affairs Committee have now received a letter from environment minister Roseanna Cunningham, informing them that the leasing proposal has been ruled out by ministers.

"After giving this serious consideration and in view of the comments we received, I have decided not to take leasing any further," she said.

"On taking this decision we should be under no illusion that without the leasing option we now need to consider ways of raising funds in order to plant more trees."

Forest-leasing proposals ruled out - 16/03/09

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