Gove’s green light take on Brexit must rely on our natural forestry resources
Scotland must take the lead in developing new rural policy and funding mechanisms as we proceed to exit the EU, says Stuart Goodall
ICHAEL Gove gave his first major policy speech as UK Environment Secretary at WWF’S headquarters, a building made primarily of wood. In the speech, he promised a ‘Green Brexit’.
WWF’S building is ‘green’ through its use of wood, but could have been even greener if it hadn’t used imported timber. Hopefully Mr Gove’s future actions will combine ambition for sustainability with home-grown substance to the benefit of the rural economy and environment - acting on evidence, freed from current strictures like the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
To paraphrase an old saying, if the CAP doesn’t fit, don’t wear it.
In his speech, Mr Gove drew heavily on his upbringing in north-east Scotland. He reminisced: “My feelings for landscape, wildlife and natural beauty spring from sentiment. Growing up between the North Sea and the Cairngorms, spending weekends in the hills ….I grew up with an emotional attachment to natural beauty.”
The area he described has been shaped by forestry, a lesson he should take into consideration when planning future rural policy. The famous Deeside railway line, once used by the Royals to visit Balmoral, was built primarily to transport timber from the countryside to markets. The CAP is a straightjacket, a system based in legislation designed for a very different era and set of challenges.
It is a policy that effectively stops at the farm gate. Farming is a very important part of rural Scotland, but not the only part, and the CAP does too little to embrace environmental concerns, not least the need to act to reduce greenhouse gases.
CAP has built barriers between farming and other land-uses like forestry, and interminable cycles of CAP reform and implementation have consumed the time and energies of generations of politicians and civil servants. No wonder the CAP is unloved. In early 2019, the UK will leave CAP when it exits the EU – though the UK government intends to fund agriculture at current levels until 2022, the lifetime (perhaps) of the current Parliament.
It is not clear, if, in 2022, a new system will come into operation – or whether the UK Government will seek to maintain some form of common post-cap policy after Brexit. There is a view this might be neces- sary to meet World Trade Organisation rules, under which the UK will operate after leaving the EU.
The Scottish Government has made clear it wants both policy and funding (at the current level) devolved directly to Edinburgh. That argument would be even stronger if Scotland could show its share of the funding will go further, delivering more and wider benefits to society.
Whether a ‘Remainer’ or ‘Brexiteer’, anyone who cares about a green, prosperous rural economy, or about tackling climate change, should champion Scotland taking a lead in developing new rural policy and funding mechanisms.
Forestry has to be a key part of that, and in Michael Gove’s beloved north-east, there are many examples of how that could all work. Multi-purpose forestry combines infinitely renewable wood production with wildlife tourism and outdoor recreation.
Family sawmilling, like James Jones & Sons in Aboyne, processes timber from across the region, employing almost 100 people in secure jobs. Family businesses are at the heart of Scotland’s £1 billion forestry and timber success story.
Michael Gove recognised many of the benefits trees can deliver – “a carbon sink, a way to manage flood risk and a habitat for precious spe- cies”. Scotland can show him they are also places for people, providing jobs, growth and investment as well as significant leisure opportunities.
Forestry does not ask for special future treatment, just a fair and level playing-field where all rural
land uses have the chance to thrive. Confor calls it, simply, a common countryside policy, and will strive to ensure this integrated approach is central to discussions after Brexit.
Michael Gove has an ‘emotional attachment to natural beauty’, so I suggest he comes back to Deeside to see how emotion and good business sense combine to put forestry where it belongs - right at the heart of this new common countryside policy. Stuart Goodall is Chief Executive of Confor, representing 1500 forestry and timber businesses across the UK