Climate 

Forestry sits at the centre of Scotland’s response to the climate emergency, acting simultaneously as a carbon sink, ecological infrastructure, and material resource.

 

Forests now cover around 1.49 million hectares, or 19% of Scotland’s land area, and hold over half of the UK’s total forest carbon stock, equivalent to roughly 2 billion tonnes of CO₂ (Scottish Government, 2024). Each year, Scottish woodlands sequester an estimated 7.5 million tonnes of CO₂, offsetting around 14% of national emissions (Forestry and Land Scotland, 2024). Beyond their role in carbon accounting, forests provide layered ecological and social value, supporting biodiversity, flood protection, soil stability, and rural employment. Linking directly to the government’s wider goals for nature restoration and place-based regeneration. 

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Yet the scale of transition still lacks ambition. While the Climate Change Plan set targets for up to 18,000 hectares of new woodland each year, recent figures show that only 8,470 hectares were created in 2024–25, less than half the goal (Forestry Scotland, 2025). Although native woodland expansion exceeded projections, structural barriers, land availability, labour shortages, and the pace of planning, continue to limit progress. This exposes a deeper question about how land is valued and used: whether forestry is understood as a carbon offset mechanism or as part of a long-term regenerative landscape economy. Increasing focus on timber innovation and bio-based construction suggests a growing awareness that forestry is not only a tool for sequestration, but a material framework for climate transition, capable of linking ecology, economy, and design in tangible ways.