Recommendation 10

HM Government Accepted

In the past year £1 million has been made available through the Tree Production Innovation Fund (TPIF) to encourage the adoption of innovative technologies and ways of working in the nursery sector. TPIF is supporting a wide range of projects to overcome barriers in tree production, through increased germination and establishments rates, automation of labour-intensive processes, and development of sustainable weed control solutions. Forestry Commission have had a fantastic response to TPIF, receiving 31 applications in 2021 including collaborations between researchers, nurseries, seed suppliers and industry. TPIF recently reopened for a second round of applications, making an additional £1.4m available for this ground-breaking work. In May, a new Tree Production Capital Grant (TPCG) opened for applications, providing capital support to nurseries and seed suppliers to modernise facilities, for example by adopting mechanisation and automation, and thereby improve the quantity, quality, diversity, and biosecurity of planting stock available for planting in England. Following our ETAP commitment to explore new data sharing practices to help better plan for supply and demand in the sector, the Forestry Commission have now recruited a data specialist to facilitate a flow of information on plant supply and demand between Government, the nursery sector, and their customers. The decision to close Wykeham followed a detailed review of Forestry England’s operations, which led to concentrating tree seedling production at Delamere in Cheshire. This decision has been carefully considered by the Forestry England Board and will not have an impact on current or future tree planting ambitions nationally or by Forestry England. Forestry England’s two nurseries exist primarily to supply trees for Forestry England. The nurseries also supply trees to the legacy organisations in Wales and Scotland which have been created in response to the devolution of state forest management in those countries. These sales are declining as Natural Resources Wales and Forestry and Land Scotland move to procuring trees through public tender. The future supply from Delamere will provide excellent quality trees suitable for planting by Forestry England throughout England. Delamere Nursery is home to the most advanced production systems in the UK Forest Nursery sector. Past investment in its glasshouse facility has allowed Forestry England to move toward a sustainable method of tree production, reducing inputs of water and pesticides while increasing efficiency of seed use. Further planned investment will increase outputs from the existing site and will further reduce reliance on labour. The developments in cell-grown tree production will support Forestry England in growing of a more diverse range of species. The system also enables trees to be transplanted on forest sites throughout much of the year, rather than limiting planting to the winter season. The Wykeham site has been made available to lease by competitive tender. Bids will be evaluated, with those that indicate intention to grow trees being prioritised.