Tree nursery owners and small scale secondary processors of timber in Scotland are set to benefit from new features of a forestry grant.

An additional £500,000 has been made available to support both sectors through the purchase of specialised equipment, increasing the opportunities for business expansion.

The funding is available within the Harvesting and Processing option of the Forestry Grant Scheme.

Welcoming the new grant funding, Rural Affairs Secretary, Fergus Ewing, said: “The burgeoning success story of Scotland’s forestry sector is down to the passion, enthusiasm and commitment of the people who work in the forest and timber industry, many of whom work at the smaller scale.

“Recently, I have met with these sectors and discussed a range of ideas to better support their businesses. The widening of this grant is a direct response to those discussions.

“This funding will support the purchase of the specialised equipment that will allow small forestry businesses to start-up or scale up, creating jobs and ultimately help deliver our ambitious woodland creation targets.”

The grants boost has been developed in consultation between Forestry Commission Scotland, the Associations of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers (ASHS) and Confor’s Nursery Group.

An additional application round will run from 18 Sept – 27 Oct for the 2017 claim year. Up to 40% grant support is available.