Forestry, Carbon Sequestration and Climate Change research list: EIR release

Information requested

A list (regardless of whether this has been published or not) of any research, commissioned research, data sets, research, or other material that the Scottish Government holds (or used to hold) since 1 January 2019 in relation to (a) Forestry in Scotland or the UK, (b) Carbon sequestration through tree planting in Scotland or the UK, (c) Commercial conifer plantations, (d) Climate change and forestry.

From this list, please state which research, datasets, or other material was (1) published and (2) not published.

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Please can you provide a list (regardless of whether this has been published or not) of any research, commissioned research, data sets, research, or other material that the Scottish Government holds (or used to hold) since 1 January 2019 in relation to

(a) Forestry in Scotland or the UK

The data below will provide you with the relevant data you request regarding Forestry in Scotland or the UK. The Forest Research website holds a catalogue of research You searched for - Forest Research

(b) Carbon sequestration through tree planting in Scotland or the UK

Published

1) Quantifying the sustainable forestry carbon cycle – Quantifying the sustainable forestry carbon cycle: Report download page - Forest Research

2) Comparison of the carbon, water, and energy balances of mature stand and clear-fell stages in a British Sitka spruce forest and the impact of the 2018 drought. Xenakis et al 2021 - Comparison of the carbon, water, and energy balances of mature stand and clear-fell stages in a British Sitka spruce forest and the impact of the 2018 drought - ScienceDirect

3) Natural England Research Report NERR094 Carbon storage and sequestration by habitat: a review of the evidence (second edition) (2021) – published on Natural England website - Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Habitat 2021 - NERR094

Not published

1) Excel file containing the updated CARBINE results produced originally for the Quantifying the sustainable forestry carbon cycle project and a PowerPoint presentation.

(c) Commercial conifer plantations

Not published

1) Test result of a single yield class run to compare running a 40 cm diameter at breast height scenario versus a 30 cm diameter at breast height scenario for the production forecast.

2) Discussion paper on processing large logs.

(d) Climate change and forestry

Published

1) Woodlands for climate and nature: A review of woodland planting and management approaches in the UK for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation Report to the RSPB by Ellie Crane, February 2020 – published on RSPB website Woodlands for climate and nature? New RSPB report published to help navigate the evidence maze - Martin Harper's blog - Our work - The RSPB Community also available here: Forestry_and_climate_change_report_Feb_2020_tcm9-478449_lgckea.pdf

2) Nitrogen estimates for seedlings for Scottish Nitrogen Balance sheet_Dec 2021 – working data prepared by Scottish Forestry to provide forestry figures for Scottish Nitrogen Balance Sheet, 2021 - gov.scot

3) Nitrogen futures Executive Summary – full report published by JNCC Nitrogen Futures | JNCC Resource Hub

4) Impact of climate change on the spread of pests and diseases in Scotland – published in Plant Health Centre website: Impact of climate change on the spread of pests and diseases in Scotland | Plant Health Centre

5) Technical Report – The third climate change risk assessment: Technical-Report-The-Third-Climate-Change-Risk-Assessment.pdf

Not published

1) Climate change – Scottish Nitrogen Balance Sheet (SNBS) dataset preliminary 2021-10-18

2) Scottish Nitrogen Balance Sheet (SNBS) data Forestry

3) Committee on Climate Change – Forestry data for Scotland

4) Committee on Climate Change – tree planting and Short Rotation Forestry (SRF) energy crop targets for Scotland

5) Risks to the forest estate in Scotland – economic analysis Final Report – March 2019

6) EV TimHaul report – use of electric Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV), internal update report.

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