The Forestry Commission has unique knowledge and expertise to bring to the issue of climate change. As the government department responsible for forestry in England, Scotland and Wales and the largest single woodland manager in Britain, we are stewards of a vital natural resource. Together with colleagues in the Northern Ireland Forest Service we manage over 800,000 hectares of woodland in the UK which is 30% of total woodland. We have championed sustainable management of forests in the UK and turned it from a concept attached to the 1992 Earth summit in Rio into a practical reality. Our ability to do this comes from our role not only as part of government contributing to the development of policy but also as practical foresters delivering it on the ground.
We are also used to looking far into the future. Among our strengths is our ability to plan for the long term. We know that trees have to withstand tomorrow’s threats as well as today’s. Considerations like these are vital to designing attractive, diverse and economically viable woodlands that will be able to cope with an uncertain but potentially very different future.
The Forestry Commission has an international role – we take the lead or joint lead with the Department for International Development, on behalf of the UK government, on forestry issues in Europe and internationally. We work with other parts of government to explore the actions needed to enable the forestry sector to adapt to climate change.
The Forestry Commission also has a research capacity. Knowledge from the research we sponsor, mostly from our own research agency, is crucial to facing future challenges: in Forest Research we have world-class scientists and a knowledge base that means we don’t start from scratch; we are building on many years of research and practical experience.