"As a mainstay of our rural economy, forestry plays a vital role in safeguarding communities and businesses across the country - and is increasingly winning a bigger stake in the domestic and international timber markets, " he said.

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Otherwise there will be no chance of the many reforms required outside the forestry sector: in land-use planning and rural development, in agriculture, energy and infrastructure policies, and much else.

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The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), and the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association (SRPBA) are involved in the project.

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The government launched a consultation on plans to sell off or lease England's 258, 000-hectare public forest estate - currently managed by the Forestry Commission on behalf of the environment, food and rural affairs department - to the private sector or to not for profit organisations, last week.

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In this low-income country, with an economy based on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, approximately 60 per cent of the population still resides in rural areas.

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For example, expanded credits for forestry-based offsets, including reforestation, afforestation and avoided deforestation, would give the rural poor a critical source of income to manage and sustain their landscapes.

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Neil Stoddart, a forest district manager for the Forestry Commission at Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, said although conifer production was an important part of rural economic development, it could be balanced with environmental gains.

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