Silviculture of Scottish Forests at a Time of Change

Abstract

Summary During the 20th century, a sustained afforestation programme was carried out in Scotland, which increased the forest cover from about 4% of the country in 1900 to 17% in 2002. The expansion was achieved primarily through the establishment of evenaged plantations of fast-growing conifer species, most of which were not native to the British Isles. Many of these forests will reach financial maturity in the next two decades, thereby providing a valuable timber resource for the Scottish economy, and giving the opportunity to diversify the forests to meet the multifunctional objectives outlined in the recent Scottish Forestry Strategy. However, diversifying these forests requires the adoption of a range of silvicultural systems and not simply perpetuating the clearfelling and replanting system that has characterized plantation management. These new approaches include greater use of continuous cover forestry and the restoration of native woodlands on sites previously planted with conifers. A sustained period of low timber prices is also influencing this process, as managers are more aware both of the high replanting costs involved in plantation silviculture and of the subsidies given to manage stands for nonmarket benefits. The effect of these changes upon the structure and nature of Scottish forests is unclear, and a sectoral analysis should be undertaken to explore the potential impacts.