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Fight over the future of the forests

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Published Date: 04 December 2008
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to halt plans that could see more than 100,000 hectares of Scottish Forest – an area the size of Fife – leased off to private companies.
There are fears the SNP government's proposals to lease 25 per cent of its forests for £200m would effectively privatise large swathes of Scotland's woodland.

However, the environment minister, Michael Russell, defended the initiative.





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  • Last Updated: 03 December 2008 10:12 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

nabodican,

Rural Scotland 04/12/2008 06:55:41
Michael Russell is an incompetent idiot.
2

yockel,

04/12/2008 08:16:26
The scheme to lease the forrests rather than sell them is presumably an underhand, sleazy plot to avoid offering the land back to the owners who had it stolen off them to create the Commission in the first place.
3

,

04/12/2008 08:26:15
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
4

yockel,

04/12/2008 08:30:00
Sold for a song and will remain a burden on the public purse. Yes that is wrong. It's asset stripping.
5

Slioch,

Scottish Highlands 04/12/2008 08:40:21
So, what and where is the campaign? Could someone associated tell us about it?
6

Gdgy,

04/12/2008 10:23:38
#3 I wouldn't put Estonia up as an example of well managed forestry....
Ihave told that for years they have been exporting timber to Sweden off-books....the national output of Swedish timber regularly exceeds their possible yield...
7

Gdgy,

04/12/2008 10:24:45
#1 Come on, be fair...Russell is no more incompetent than any of the other SNP ministers...Swinney for example....
8

Jimmy Le Pie,

04/12/2008 12:12:28
If New Labour Sleaze had anything to do with the forests they wouldn't have leased them out, they would have given them away to their pals in the city!
9

,

04/12/2008 15:20:28
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
10

Gdgy,

04/12/2008 16:04:22
#8 Labour had something "to do with the forests" for years and they remained in public hands...so far...
11

Miss H,

04/12/2008 16:48:20
From my reading of it the plan, which is part of the climate bill, is to use the private sector to increase the amount of land under forest, which will increase the amount of carbon stored in trees, and make more use of sites with potential to generate power from wind, hydro and micro power.

If people are against that fair enough but it means that there will be less actually spent on forestry as government resources are reduced. So it either happens with private sector involvement or it doesn’t happen.
12

,

04/12/2008 17:05:00
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
13

yockel,

04/12/2008 19:16:08
#9 MMM, The trees muppet, the right to fell the trees!

 

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