Productive forestry: optimism for home-grown timber

Forestry Minister Mary Creagh MP was absent from the Confor Timber in Construction conference at the QEII Centre in London on 20 November. However, she very much ‘turned up’ for domestic forestry and timber in her video message delivered while she was in Brazil at the COP 30 climate summit.

The positive message for productive forestry was then reinforced shortly after when the revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2025 was published on 1 December.

Building on the Labour government’s endorsement and re-launch of the ‘Timber in construction roadmap 2025’ in February, the minister made a clear commitment to expand productive forestry and the use of home-grown timber in construction. Taken with the announcement on 5 November that the government is to explore the development of a new ‘Woodland Carbon Purchase Fund’, funded by up to £250m to provide up-front payments to landowners to accelerate woodland creation, the signals are looking more positive for productive forestry.

This was welcome news, as up to the publication of the EIP, there had been few specifics so far as to how the substantial £816m spending review settlement for trees in England, announced in summer 2025, would be spent. In fact, other than the headline ‘tree budget’ figure, there have been few substantive forestry announcements this year since the endorsement of the timber in construction roadmap.

The minister’s comments were encouraging however, and the subsequent publication of the EIP confirmed the key points she made. It is a welcome declaration of government intent to invest in homegrown timber to complement general statements on expanding tree cover. 

It was welcome to hear the minister being so positive about home-grown timber production in her video address to the recent Confor conference. “We need to plant more trees, and more productive species…that store carbon and provide the timber we need for tomorrow’s homes,” she said.

Tackling the issue that often frustrates the creation of more productive woodlands, she also said, “this is not a call to sacrifice nature for productivity. It is a call to embrace both - because productive forestry and nature recovery are not in conflict. They are companions.”

This is very much based on the legislative controls and environmental principles which are built into UK forestry practice now though the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) – now in its 27th year and fifth edition. With biodiversity and woodland resilience in mind, the UKFS now avoids the monocultures of previous decades and has a limit of 65% of a single species in any woodland creation proposal.

This more balanced thinking on woodland creation has permeated through to Natural England (NE). Although it was a point of detail not referred to by the minister, in December 2023, NE quietly published with Forestry Commission (FC) a joint NE/FC position on woodland creation setting out the types of woodland they want to see more of.

As well as ‘wildlife rich woodlands for biodiversity’, ‘woodlands for climate change mitigation’ and ‘multi-functional woodlands’, more ‘commercial tree plantations’ were also needed as we rely on imports for much of our timber (73% in 2024). Offshoring such a high proportion of our timber production is undesirable given the forecast growth in global timber demand.

What links all these types of woodland together are the environmental requirements and best practice standards of the UKFS. Any woodland receiving public funding needs to be UKFS compliant. This ensures sustainability regardless of the specifics of woodland type or management objectives.

As an important aside, as well as using the UKFS in designing any new woodland, CLA members should bear in mind the joint NE/FC statement on woodland creation mentioned above as they negotiate the finer details of woodland proposals with the FC and consultees like NE.

Getting back to the minister, she went on to say that, “timber is not a niche material, but a national asset…it belongs at the heart of our housing strategy, our climate response, and our rural economy.

“We are working to ensure timber is considered at every stage of the building process - from design and procurement to delivery and maintenance. We are committed to supporting innovation in engineered timber, modular construction, and hybrid materials. We need to use more home-grown timber. And we need to grow more of it.”

Here, the minister was further reinforcing key themes of the timber in construction roadmap. Relating woodland creation not just to climate change but also to housing and the rural economy is important because it is here where productive conifer dominated woodlands come into their own.

As well as being UKFS compliant and therefore sustainable, use of more home-grown timber in constructing the homes we need locks up carbon for many decades after the wood is harvested, sustaining businesses and jobs in rural areas and in the wood processing and construction sectors. What’s more, commercial woodlands once harvested are then re-stocked - and the virtuous cycle continues.

Minister Mary Creagh concluded by saying “We have the roadmap, ambition, and partnerships. Now we must deliver.” A message taken up by Confor Deputy CEO Andy Leitch who commented, “We have made huge progress - and there is a much more positive attitude towards productive forestry - but the key statement is about delivery.

“If we can deliver, it could be transformational in economic and environmental terms and the impact on national tree targets.”

There is frequent mention of trees and forestry in the EIP 2025 which came out shortly after the minister’s address to the Confor conference. The Environment Act target of growing tree cover in England from 14.9% to 16.5% by 2050 (c. 210,000 ha) has been retained in the EIP and a new interim target of 43,000 ha of new tree cover by 2030 set.

There are positive commitments to increase the proportion of timber bearing conifer species contributing to these planting targets through grants and green finance, alongside a commitment to implementing the actions in the timber in construction roadmap 2025. Plans also include exploring the creation of a Woodland Carbon Purchase Fund and determining UK ETS eligibility for new woodlands accredited under the UK Woodland Carbon Code.

Detailed specifics on many issues were lacking – but more will be set out in a new 'Trees Action Plan' in 2026. The CLA has called for some time for such a forestry specific strategy to show government commitment in the long-term, and to set out the vision for the sector so that investment confidence can be raised and maintained. We have made clear to Defra our view that the successor plan to the previous England Trees Action Plan (2021) should be clearer and more ambitious on productive forestry and timber production alongside the many other benefits we get from forestry. The ‘direction of travel’ set by the EIP suggests this point has been taken on board.

We expect the new Trees Action Plan will say more on tackling the impact on trees of burgeoning populations of deer and grey squirrels. Revised strategies to manage these were submitted to the government before the 2024 election but have yet to see the light of day. There was little specific in the EIP on this beyond saying it was important to ‘manage the impact of mammals on woodland better’ - something of an understatement.

The development of a ‘Woodland Carbon Purchase Fund’ could however, provide a significant boost to woodland creation including productive woodlands. There are few details as yet – Defra have said they are still ‘exploring’ the development of the scheme – but with backing of ‘up to £250m’ it could provide a serious impetus to woodland creation.

After many years when productive timber forestry in England was not a key concern for the Defra, priorities do seem to be changing. The UK Government seems increasingly willing to acknowledge the links between forestry, climate change, timber use in constructing the homes we need and the rural economy.

The CLA will continue to make this case, but in the meantime, the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) – the Forestry Commission’s main woodland creation scheme - remains open for members. Grant rates are better than they have ever been and it should be stressed that, contrary to perceptions some may have, EWCO can support the creation of productive conifer dominated timber woodlands as well as woodlands for other objectives. The key is producing a woodland which has clear objectives, is well designed and compatible with the UK Forestry Standard.