Forest research in firing line, unions warn MPs

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Forest research in firing line, unions warn MPs

Government cuts threaten the future of forest research in a series of vital areas, Prospect and its sister unions at the Forestry Commission have warned in a submission to the Commons Science and Technology Select Committee.

The unions say that cuts dictated by the spending review of 25%, on top of efficiency savings made to meet year-on-year inflationary cuts suffered by Forest Research in recent years, "can only be achieved by a significant loss of scientific and support staff."

Sir John Beddington, the government's chief scientific adviser, recently acknowledged in correspondence with Prospect that over the coming four years the Forest Research Agency's income from Forestry Commission (GB) is projected to reduce from about £10m to just over £7m.

The unions say that at current rates of inflation this equates to at least a 40% reduction in real terms in the government's spending on research in the forestry sector over the period to 2015.

With these cuts, research will cease immediately in areas such as:

  • management of large herbivores

  • impact of alien invasive vertebrates (not including squirrels)

  • cultural heritage and historic environment
  • social drivers and mitigation of wildfires in Wales.

In addition, from 2013-2015 research will cease in:

  • wood fuel and biomass research
  • regeneration and sustainable silviculture.

Other areas that will be significantly reduced include:

  • habitat management to improve biodiversity (-75%)
  • social science (-50%)
  • operational efficiency of sustainable harvesting techniques
  • vertebrate management
  • adapting woodland regeneration/management to cope with the effects of climate change
  • wood/timber properties
  • management of current and emerging pests, weeds and disease through the sustainable use of pesticides and other non chemical methods (-60%)
  • research underpinning national inventory and forecasting, essential for monitoring sustainability and international reporting, climate change commitments, and also vital for strategic planning (-45%) 

To see all submissions to the committee's inquiry into forest research, visit the committee's area of the parliament website.


  • 29 Jun 2011