Trees and Woodland Strategy Consultation 2026

Available until Friday 28 February 2026

Strategy overview

The purpose of the Orkney Trees and Woodland Strategy is to support and inform the spatial strategy of the new Local Development Plan by setting out the vision, policies and plans for the future of woodland and trees in Orkney. Forest and woodland strategies are a requirement under section A159 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, as amended by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 (the Act) section 53, and Policy 6, Forestry, woodland and trees, of Scotland's National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4). Forest and woodland strategies will contribute to the delivery of Scotland's Forestry Strategy 2019-2029.

Why run a second consultation?

To address the comments raised from the consultation responses, it was considered that substantial changes to the document were needed. Therefore, a second consultation was deemed appropriate.

Consultees were broadly supportive of the 1st Consultative Draft of the Trees and Woodland Strategy but sought greater policy clarity, ambition and deliverability, improved evidence and mapping, and careful balancing of woodland expansion with Orkney's unique biodiversity and landscape sensitivities. There is strong support for the Strategy to function not only as a protective planning tool but also as an enabling framework for sustainable woodland creation and community involvement.

What are the main changes in the second consultative draft?

The most substantial changes included the insertion of an Overview, a Context (national strategy, national policy and Orkney Context), a separate section on Benefits of trees and woodland, Action Frameworks after each Theme and Appendix 1 with guidance on protecting and planting trees.

• The site-specific considerations have been expanded in the document both in section 1 and under the 'Resiliency' theme.
• The new Context in section 1 outlines Orkney's distinctiveness.
• The document highlights the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss more clearly, especially in the introduction.
• The new Context summarises sensitive areas that may not be suitable for planting.
• The wording concerning provenance has been edited for clarity.
• Native and non-native choices are set out in the new Context.
• Mapping is highlighted as an action.
• OIC's role is substantially outlined in the Themes section and in the actions. Mentioned in the Overview and encapsulated in the actions, as well as Appendix 2.
• The Strategy does mention trees in relation to infrastructure and flooding, especially in relation to climate change and in Appendix 2 Further Information.
• Trees and Woodlands in Orkney are well illustrated and captions relate to various themes, including historical provenance, development and benefits.

Why was the SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment) not updated?

An assessment was undertaken to check whether the SEA needed updating due to the substantial changes to the Consultative Draft. It was decided that the SEA did not need updating because:

• There are no site allocations in this plan.
• The core policy purpose of the Strategy is the same, however, there is further reference to other relevant policies within NPF4. These do not constitute a major policy shift, rather they highlight the broad range of policy areas that trees and woodlands are relevant to.
• The management tools are the same, although these have been extended to include action frameworks for each theme. These additions do not present different management approaches, they were added to summarise the actions that are relevant to each theme.