Trees in the Scottish economy

Scotland’s economy ultimately depends on the health of its natural environment. From farming and crofting to forestry, tourism and rural enterprise, thriving landscapes underpin livelihoods across the country – and trees sit at the heart of that relationship.

Yet the economic potential of trees remains underused. If Scotland is to build a resilient rural economy while tackling the climate and nature crises, the next Scottish Government must embed trees far more deeply into how land is used and supported.

When the right trees are planted in the right places, they do far more than enhance the landscape. On farms and crofts, trees can actively improve productivity and resilience.

Well-designed tree planting can:

• provide shelter and shade for livestock
• reduce soil erosion and flooding
• improve soil health and water quality
• support pollinators and biodiversity
• diversify farm income through timber, fruit or other products.

This approach, known as agroforestry, allows land to remain productive while delivering environmental benefits. It can include hedgerows, field trees, shelterbelts, orchards, riparian planting and small woodlands integrated into working farms.

Despite clear benefits, these low-density planting approaches are excluded from existing grant schemes, making it difficult for farmers and crofters to turn good intentions into reality. With farmers across the country willing to do their best for nature, but needing that action to make business sense, reforming agricultural support is clearly essential.

Trees must be fully integrated into Scotland’s evolving farm payment system, with funding designed to encourage uptake rather than unintentionally discourage it. There is strong backing for this approach across the sector, including from farming and crofting organisations like the National Farmers' Union of Scotland and the Scottish Crofting Federation, working alongside Woodland Trust Scotland and environmental partners.

Trees are also fundamental to Scotland’s commercial forestry industry – a sector that supplies vital timber for house building and other purposes, supports thousands of green jobs and sustains the nurseries needed to grow the trees of the future.

But economic success must go hand in hand with environmental responsibility, particularly where public money is being invested. Reliance on imported timber and planting stock increases the risk of invasive pests, diseases and non-native species entering Scotland’s landscapes. Public funding should therefore support forestry that meets high environmental standards while strengthening domestic supply chains.

Woodland Trust Scotland is calling for public investment through the Forestry Grant Scheme to prioritise sustainable, nature-rich forestry, including ensuring that planting stock is sourced from the UK and Ireland wherever possible. Increasing the share of funding directed toward native woodland creation would help diversify forests, improve resilience and support innovation across the timber sector.

New opportunities are also emerging through natural capital and carbon markets, allowing woodland creation and peatland restoration to generate income alongside climate benefits. These schemes have the potential to unlock significant investment in nature restoration.

However, not everyone currently has equal access to those benefits. Tenant crofters – often at the forefront of managing Scotland’s most environmentally important landscapes – can struggle to access carbon revenues because carbon rights typically sit with landowners. This imbalance risks excluding those doing much of the day-to-day stewardship of the land.

A fair and inclusive carbon economy must ensure crofters can participate meaningfully in these schemes. This includes enabling greater flexibility in land use, reforming common grazings where needed and supporting crofter-led or joint environmental projects that share financial returns more equitably.

Ensuring crofters benefit is not simply a matter of fairness – it is essential if Scotland is to realise the full potential of large-scale nature restoration in crofting communities.

Mair Trees Please sets out how trees can deliver both ecological recovery and economic opportunity. By integrating trees into farming, strengthening sustainable forestry and creating fair access to emerging carbon markets, Scotland can grow an economy that works with nature rather than against it.

With the right policy choices in the next Scottish Parliament, trees can become a cornerstone of a more resilient economy – supporting jobs, communities and landscapes.

You can help by asking your parliamentary candidates to support Mair Trees Please now!