The Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme (SFGS) - encouraged the creation and management of woods and forests to provide economic, environmental and social benefits.  This dataset identifies management plan areas from SFGS.

Following publication of the Scottish Executive’s Scottish Forestry Strategy 'Forests for Scotland' the opportunity was taken to review the Woodland Grant Scheme and the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme and give them a greater Scottish focus.

The Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme (SFGS) - encouraged the creation and management of woods and forests to provide economic, environmental and social benefits.

Grants were available under three main areas:

Grants for woodland expansion - creating new woodlands.Restocking grants, for replanting following felling.Stewardship grants, for a range of activities in existing woodlands.

Applications for SFGS grants started in June 2003 and closed in August 2006.

Most grants for SFGS were based on a percentage of Standard Costs of agreed operations. The Standard Cost took account of the costs of labour, plants, machinery, materials and supervision to do work to the specification as set out in the SFGS Standard Costs and Specifications Booklet.

Depending upon the level of public benefit, grant payments were either at 60% or 90% of the Standard Cost. In the case of restocking, Standard Costs were mostly pitched at 75% of the new planting Standard Costs.

Grants were available for planting proposals that met one or more of the following objectives:

Establishing well-designed productive woodland.Expanding areas of native woodland, preferably through natural regeneration and the development of Forest Habitat Networks.Improving riparian habitat.Improving the quality and setting of urban or post-industrial areas.Improving the diversity of the farmed and crofting landscape.

Details of all eligible operations are set out within the 'Applicants Booklet' available from Conservancy Offices.

SFGS OBJECTIVES

The abbreviations below list the SFGS objectives proposals are designed to meet:

Establishment grants

P1 to establish well-designed productive forestP2 to expand the area of native woodlandP3 to improve a riparian habitatP4 to improve the quality and setting of urban or post-industrial areasP5 to improve the diversity of the farmed/crofting landscape

Stewardship Grants

S1 to improve timber qualityS2 to reduce deer numbersS3 to improve the ecological value of native woodlandsS4 to improve woodland biodiversityS5 to enhance landscape valueS6 to develop alternative systems to clear-fellingS7 to develop woodland recreationS8 to develop community involvement

Restocking grants

R1 to produce well designed productive forestR2 to restore areas of native woodlandR3 to improve riparian habitatR4 to improve the quality and setting of urban or post-industrial areasR5 to improve the diversity of the farmed/crofting landscape

Felling

F1 Clear fellingF2 Selective fellingF3 Continuous CoverF4 Thinning

Other land

OL is not grant aided

SPATIAL DATA

There are four spatial datasets associated with SFGS. These represent the scheme boundary, management plan boundaries, sub-compartment boundaries and deer fence lines within each approved SFGS scheme.

The spatial datasets are related to the GLS database on a 'many to one' basis. This reflects the fact that many operations may occur within one sub-compartment.

Data is captured against OS Mastermap.

Management Plan Operation References

200 - Reducing deer numbers300 - Management plan for semi natural woodland301 - Survey for woodland condition302 - Biodiversity monitoring400 - Management plan for semi natural woodland401 - Survey for woodland condition402 - Biodiversity monitoring500 - Landscape design plan501 - Landscape baseline survey502 - Landscape monitoring600 - Alternative system to clearfell. Site survey and stand appraisal.601 - Management plan to develop alternative system to clearfell602 - Alternative system to clearfell. Site monitoring.603 - Alternative system to clearfell. Stand appraisal.700 - Recreation area management plan800 - Feasibility assessment801 - Training/on-going community involvement (CGIS do not capture)900 - Management Plan901 - Woodland Survey 902 - Monitoring

Each SFGS spatial dataset is accompanied by a specific non-spatial database table. The datasets can be related to each other on a 'many to one' basis. This reflects the fact that many SFGS operations may occur within one spatial geography (eg.a sub-compartment).

The S_SFGS_MAN_PLAN spatial dataset can be 'related' to the S_LINK_SFGS_OPSMANPLAN table using the 'SC_Link' attribute field.

S_SFGS_MAN_PLAN Spatial Attributes:-

SchemeNo:   SFGS Scheme numberSC_Link:   Concatenated field used to relate spatial data to tableGrant_Type:   Grant type codeSchemeName:   Name of SFGS SchemeCons_Name:   ConservancyCont_Start:   Date contract startedLocal_Auth:   Local AuthorityStatus Scheme:   statusObj_Code:   SFGS Objective codeDescriptor:   Description of spatial feature

S_LINK_SFGS_OPSMANPLAN Database Table Attributes:-

SchemeNo:   SFGS Scheme numberSC_Link:   Concatenated field used to relate table to spatial dataScheme_Type:   Type of scheme (SFGS, Forest Plan, etc)Grant_Type:   Grant type codeDescriptor:   Description of grant typeClaim_No:   Claim numberQuantity:   Length, number or area of operationUnit:   Unit of operation (eg. metres, visits, hectares)Pct_Cost:   Percentage of total cost paid under SFGSPay_Rate:   Payment rate per unit (£)Grant_Paid:   Amount of grant paid (£)Pay_In_FY:   Financial year in which payment should be madeObj_Code:   SFGS Objective code (see above for full descriptions)

For more detailed information please see the metadata record on Scotland's SpatialData.gov.scot Metadata Portal.