The effects of afforestation on agriculture in Scotland

Abstract

This paper summarizes a review of the effects of afforestation on agriculture in Scotland during the period between 1975 and 1990. The forest area in Scotland increased by around 40% between these years. Almost all of this increase was in the uplands. Most of the afforested land was previously used for hill sheep farming. Nationally, the agricultural area has shrunk, with the loss of hill grazings to afforestation, but sheep numbers have increased, largely as a result of intensification on the valley floors and remaining areas of unforested land. At the local level, it is concluded that afforestation has little impact on agriculture when the forest extent in a district is low. However, when the forest extent increases to 30% or more, the relative impact on agriculture is much greater, and agricultural decline becomes clearly established. The effects of the institutional measures employed to protect agriculture from afforestation are reviewed.