Tory MSP Peter Chapman argues that the lack of a definition around sustainable development means this power is opened up more than it should.

Mr Ewing expresses surprise that this section of the bill has garnered such debate, since all parties have previously backed compulsory purchase powers elsewhere.

He criticises Labour and the Greens for not taking part in the debate on this amendment.

Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles rises in support of Edward Mountain's amendment agaisnt compulsory purchase power expansion.

SNP MSP Bruce Crawford asks what harm this power would cause.

Mr Rumbles says it is parliament's duty to do this kind of thing, not the minister.

Image source, bbc

Mr Rumbles says: "We've got to be very careful what we allow minister's to do."

"The question surely is, why does the minister want the power?"

"To that, no answer."

He says this refers to Section 13 in this act but Section 13 in the EU Continuity Bill, which will be debate tomorrow, is even more important.

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Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing suggests the Conservatives' opposition to the compulsory purchase powers in the bill is due to a misunderstanding.

Powers of compulsory purposes are rarely used but that is not a reason to remove them from the bill, he argues.

It is not an unfettered power for ministers to buy property, he states.

Tory MSP Edward Mountain explains his amendment seeks to remove the section on compulsory purchase of land for sustainable development purposes.

He suggests the Scottish government has not proven the need for extending powers given to it in the Forestry Act 1967.

He offers support to Mr Ewing's amendment 8.

Image source, bbc

So, the minister's amendments 7A and 7B are passed, but 7C is passed with 90 for and 34 against.

7D gets unanimous backing.

60 MSPs back 7E, with 64 vote against. This was the controversial amendment seekint to remove

Andy Wightman's amendment 7, as amended by the minister without his 7E, is passed 64 for and 60 against.

So basically the minister was unsuccesful in removing the

Image source, bbc

Image source, bbc

Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing says Mr Wightman's amendment calls for the gathering of information on the ownership forestry and land, yet says in debate he does not want that.

Mr Wightman rises to explain and says there is no duty on ministers to publish the detail of woodland ownership.

Mr Ewing says that does not anwser his question

The minister says any information about ownership requires the the consultation of the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland.

He says the the keeper has highlighted the impact of this extra work and he says the late sharing of this information was due to the lack of costings at Stage 1 and 2.

The minister warns MSPs voting for amendment 7 will be responsible for costings.

Green MSP Andy Wightman says the cabinet secretary is "labouring under a misunderstanding" about the amendment.

He reiterates that the information to be gathered is also in the public domain and will not cost the £600,000 Mr Ewing claims.

Turning to amendment 7C, he says he was minded to support it but now will not as proprietorship is linked more closely with the owner rather than broad characteristics of how it is owned.

Labour MSP Claudia Beamish backs Green amendment 7 and will oppose the minister's amendment 7E.

Ms Beamish expresses concern that the cabinet secretary wrote to MSPs at such a late stage to express concerns about costs.

Image source, bbc

Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles also supports Andy Wightman's amendment 7 and the supporting amendments.

Mr Rumbles says he does not understand why the minister's amendment 7E which removes the timescale altogether.

Given that this is a delayed Stage 3, due to the bad weather, he says that receiving a letter from the minister at the last minute with "disinformation" is a "scandal" and a "disgrace".

Tory MSP Peter Chapman says his party supports all the amendments in this group apart from 7E, since this would remove the deadline on the duty to publish.

Implementing this will not result in undue costs, he argues.

Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing begins by stating he wants to improve availability and transparency of the ownership of forests.

All public land will be registered by 2019, he says.

The minister urges members to vote against amendment 7 even if amended by his five amendments to the amendment.

"Make no mistake, presiding officer, there would be substantial costs involved."

Image source, bbc

Green MSP Andy Wightman says his amendment calls for a better sight of who owns forests in Scotland.

Mr Wightman says there is nothing in his amendment requiring people to go in search of who owns Scotland's forests, rather it is for data around who owns them.

He regrets the intervention of the minister last night.

Mr Wightman says he cannot understand why the government is against better data around forestry information.

Image source, SP

Labour MSP Claudia Beamish backs the amendment, noting the importance of responding to tree disease.

Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing confirms research will continue and he welcomes the amendment, particularly since it enables collaboration with the rest of the UK.

The chamber unanimously agrees the amendment.

Tory MSP Peter Chapman speaks to the only amendment in group 4 on 'duty to make arrangements for research'.

He explains the amendment is to safeguard research efforts by anchoring it in sustainable forest management.

This will ensure tree health needs are met, he adds.

The Tory MSP also says it allows for cross-border arrangements when it makes sense to do so.

Image source, bbc

MSPs unanimously agree to amenments 3, 41, 4, and 32 from the forestry strategy section.

Labour MSP Claudia Beamish's amendment 33 is agreed to, with 94 MSPs backing it and 30 against.

Same result for amendment 34.

35 is agreed to unanimously, as are the rest of the amendments in the group, apart from the minister's amendment 6, but it is agreed to.

Tory MSP Jamie Greene says he hates to be the one to break consensus in the chamber but...

He says his party will not support amendments 33 and 34, arguing they "unnecessarily complicate" the bill.

However, his party will accept amendment 35 on the biodiversity strategy.

Amendment 6 will also not be supported by the Scottish Conservatives as it could lead to an indefinite delay to the reporting period, Mr Greene says.

Image source, bbc

Mr Ewing says woodland creation is important to counter climate change and to provide wood.

The rural economy secretary lends his support to the amendments in the group, including his own.