Photo credit: ‘Kintyre’ by John Lord on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

CEP is Undertaking the Environmental and Economic evaluation of TimberLINK for Forestry CommissioN SCOTLAND

CEP, in association with Reference Economic Consultants and the University of Strathclyde, has been commissioned to undertake an environmental and economic evaluation of TimberLINK for Forestry Commission Scotland.  

TimberLINK is an environmental transport initiative which commenced in 2000 and is designed to provide a sustainable alternative to road haulage. The service, supported by the Scottish Government, ships around 80-100,000 tonnes of timber a year from forests in Argyll to processors in Ayrshire across the Firth of Clyde. As well as helping to ensure economic development around the local ports, the service has been estimated to remove around 8,000 lorry journeys a year from roads between Argyll and Ayrshire.

CEP is carrying out the evaluation of TimberLINK to inform the decision on the future of the service beyond the end of the current funding period in March 2017.

CEP’s Dr Peter Phillips is managing the project under the direction of Dr Bill Sheate.