Our Commissioners

The Forestry Commission is both a Government Department and a statutory body with a board of Commissioners. The board consists of a Chair and up to 10 other Forestry Commissioners, who are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of Ministers.

The board meets four times per year. The Commissioners themselves have a number of specific statutory duties and powers, summarised in the Forestry Act as 'promoting the interests of forestry, the development of afforestation and the production and supply of timber and other forest products'. In practice, these mainly relate to incentives and regulation, controls on felling, plant health and managing the public forest estate.

The Commissioners have a legal duty to seek a reasonable balance between the production and supply of timber and the interests of conservation. In promoting the multiple benefits of forestry, they also seek to take careful account of the needs and wishes of people throughout Britain, including local communities.

As forestry is a devolved matter, the Commissioners report separately to Westminster Ministers, Scottish Ministers and the National Assembly for Wales for their activities in England, Scotland and Wales respectively.

Our Commissioners are:

Pamela Warhurst CBE - Chair

Tim Rollinson, Director General and Deputy Chair

Paul Hill-Tout - Forestry Commissioner England

Dr Bob McIntosh - Forestry Commissioner Scotland

Trefor Owen - Forestry Commissioner Wales

Judith Webb - Forestry Commissioner Wales

Dr Olutayo Adebowale - Forestry Commissioner England

Sir Harry Studholme - Forestry Commissioner England

Jon Owen Jones - Forestry Commissioner Wales

Hamish Macleod - Forestry Commissioner for Scotland and the timber trade

Forestry Commissioners' Register of Interests