Scottish Forestry to stay a stand-alone agency after sector lobbying against merger

Scottish Forestry will remain a stand-alone executive agency and will not be included in proposals for a single Scottish environment body, the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs confirmed on 6 November.

The Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) welcomed the decision on 9 November. The professional body said Gillian Martin MSP had confirmed it after considering proposals to bring Scotland's national environmental public bodies, potentially including Scottish Forestry, into one overarching organisation.

According to ICF, the Cabinet Secretary said keeping Scottish Forestry separate would give the sector stability and continuity while maintaining clear accountability for delivering Scotland's forestry ambitions.

Louise Simpson, Executive Director of the Institute of Chartered Foresters, said: "We have been clear that Scotland needs strong, visible and specialist forestry leadership if we are to maintain confidence, attract investment and deliver the woodland creation and management that Scotland needs."

The decision

Scottish Forestry published its own confirmation on 6 November that it will remain a standalone executive agency. It said grant applications and payments, regulatory decisions and felling permissions continue as normal.

A spokesperson for the agency described the creation of a new environment body as a significant step in Scotland and said Scottish Forestry would work with the current organisations and the Scottish Government to ensure continuity during the transition.

The Cabinet Secretary also wrote to the Scottish Parliament's Rural Affairs Committee on 6 November about Scottish Forestry's position under the Public Service Reform programme.

ICF said the Scottish Government's parliamentary answer accompanying the decision pointed to the forestry sector's contribution of more than £1bn a year to Scotland's economy and its support for more than 34,000 jobs.

How the proposal emerged

The Scottish Government's Programme for Government 2026-2031 set out the single environment body with the stated aim of removing unnecessary barriers and making environmental interventions more impactful.

Zero Waste Scotland said on 1 September that it would join NatureScot, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and potentially Scottish Forestry in the new consolidated body. It said the Scottish Government had indicated a timetable that would see the body ready for service by 2029, with consultation on the detail expected later in the autumn.

Nicole Paterson, SEPA Chief Executive, said SEPA welcomed the importance the Scottish Government placed on delivering the best environmental outcomes.

The sector's response

On 8 September ICF announced that it, Woodland Trust Scotland and the Confederation of Forest Industries (Confor) had written to ministers seeking urgent discussions and assurances over Scottish Forestry's future. Confor said the letter went to Gillian Martin MSP, Ivan McKee MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform, Stephen Flynn MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport, and Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture, Marine and the Islands.

Stuart Goodall, Confor Chief Executive, said at the time that Confor shared the government's desire to make it easier to expand forestry but was concerned about specific unintended consequences it believed would arise from the proposals.

According to Confor, the joint letter pointed to the 2013 restructuring in Wales, when Forestry Commission Wales was folded into Natural Resources Wales, which the signatories said was followed by a significant loss of institutional forestry expertise.

ICF noted the Programme for Government commits to increasing woodland creation so that 18,000 hectares are planted every year by 2029-30. Simpson said in September that now was the time to invest in forestry expertise, not risk losing it.

What happens next

ICF said it welcomed the commitment that Scottish Forestry will continue to take part in wider public service reform, working with partner organisations on efficiency, collaboration, value for money and outcomes.

Simpson said the partnership between ICF, Confor and Woodland Trust Scotland had made the sector's collective case stronger. "Keeping Scottish Forestry as a stand-alone agency should not mean standing still," she said. "There is now an opportunity to build on this decision and focus collectively on how Scottish Forestry and the wider sector can work even better."

Zero Waste Scotland said consultation on the shape of the new environment body, which would not now include Scottish Forestry, was expected later this autumn, ahead of a government-indicated 2029 start date.