COMMUNITY WOODLAND PARTNERSHIPS WORKING WELL

Community woodland partnerships are working well across Scotland, according to a new study published today.

The Community Woodlands Association, together with Forestry Commission Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, joined forces on the study to examine how well the Commission's community partnerships have fared over the last 10 years.

Feedback on the whole was very positive with community empowerment being the most important benefit being achieved through the partnerships. Access to new recreation facilities also scored as one of the most important benefits.

Welcoming the new study, Scottish Forestry Minister Rhona Brankin said:

"Forestry Commission Scotland has a strong tradition of working closely with communities all over Scotland. There is a wide variety of partnerships in existence and it is good to hear they are working well and providing value to communities living in and around forests and woodlands. It is also very important and gratifying to see that these same communities feel that they can actually make things happen by entering into partnerships with the Commission."

The study highlighted that both Forestry Commission Scotland and the communities benefited from working closely together as some partnerships were able to access different sources of funding. Partnerships also helped the Commission get closer to local communities which is important in delivering Scottish Executive policies.

Piers Voysey, Community Woodlands Association (CWA) Director, said:

"Flexibility works well and this is demonstrated by the variety of partnership agreements across Scotland, from formal, legal contracts to some of the most successful partnerships having no formal agreement between the community and Forestry Commission Scotland. Many of the Commission's staff must be credited with their imagination and in being proactive in getting community partnerships off the ground.

"The study has been of value to the CWA in showing us where there are areas for improvement. Many isolated, rural communities benefit from the networking opportunities that the CWA can provide and we want to make sure that more community partnerships can benefit by learning from other partnerships and community woodlands. We will also be developing training programmes with the Commission to improve communication and community organisation and also to improve staff and community awareness of how communities and the Commission work, before they launch themselves into partnership agreements."

Some areas for improvement were also identified within the study including speeding up the time taken to produce formal legal agreements.
Volunteer fatigue was also an issue as many partnerships needed enthusiastic people in the community to devote their time to making partnerships work. As volunteers moved on, it often left a gap needing to be filled to keep a project going. Clearer and more consistent approaches to risk assessments would also help with insurance matters and the Commission intend to review its procedures.

For the full report, log on to www.forestry.gov.uk/scotland and look under the "People" section of the homepage.