This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter.

“Over-planting of monocultures (eg Sitka),” says a new report by the Just Transition Commission out today, “risks establishing a pattern of land use that, while commercially profitable for developers, has significant down-sides in terms of its impact on biodiversity and nature, community access and participation”.

Last week, with business writer Brian Donnelly, I delved into the issues and controversies around Scotland’s forestry in our series Scotland’s Forests: Targets and Timber Shortages - at the centre of many of the stories was the popular fast-growing, non-native plantation tree, Sitka spruce, and often the geographical focus was Dumfries and Galloway.

In the commission's newly published ‘A Just Transition for Dumfries and Galloway’ report, the area is described as carrying “the conifer weight of the UK”.

What that weight means for communities and those living and working in the area is one of the issues examined. The top line of its press release declares: “Scotland’s communities need ‘stake and say’ in tree planting.”

That's certainly one of the things I have learned. It's what I heard when I looked at what's happening at Langholm, where the Save Warblaw Action Group, are campaigning against a planned forest on a nearby hill. The locals have strong feelings about landscape, trees and nature, and want a say.

But, as we also showed........

© Herald Scotland