THE Government must recognise the value of Westcountry woodland to the region's economy and environment, rural campaigners have said.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) spelled out its vision for forestry and woodlands until 2050 and warned that: "If woodland management does not become profitable, it will die."

It said the Government must value the huge contribution woods and forests make to the landscape, biodiversity and water and carbon management, and understand that tree-planting and effective woodland management are legitimate ways of offsetting the carbon emissions blamed for climate change.

Ministers also have to accept that growing trees is an industry and needs to be financially viable.

CLA president Henry Aubrey-Fletcher said: "Now is the time for forestry and woodland. The potential is enormous and largely unrealised.

"In England we currently harvest less than 40 per cent of the volume of timber that grows in the woods each year – squandering this valuable and sustainable resource.

"And less than 1 per cent of the value of timber is returned to the grower who sells it. That's the lowest in Europe and just one tenth of what foresters get in Finland."

The report – Seeing the Wood for the Trees: CLA Forestry and Woodland Vision and Policy – said there had already been a decline in skilled staff and a lack of job opportunities in the industry.

Government policy had to "reverse this spiral of decline" if woodlands were to continue to be sustainably managed, benefiting both wildlife and the local economy.

Mr Aubrey-Fletcher said: "In England and Wales between 2003 and 2008, new planting almost halved, falling from 5,100 hectares a year to 2,800 hectares a year.

"And between 1998 and 2008, the number of sawmills processing home-grown timber in the UK fell from 341 to 211 – a drop of around 40 per cent."

At the same time, he added, the industry was being "over-regulated" by Government. Geraint Richards, head forester for the Duchy of Cornwall and a member of the CLA committee which produced the report, said managing woodland produced "enormous benefits".

Mr Richards, who manages 4,500 acres of woodland, more than 50 per cent of which is in Cornwall, said there was opportunity for high quality timber to replace concrete and steel in construction.

Greater use wood as a biofuel, either in chip, pellet or log form, was also important.

"It is an incredibly important time for timber to come to the forefront," Mr Richards said yesterday. "I think we are missing a trick, regionally and nationally, if we don't recognise the value of these woodlands."