Forestry Commission - News - scotland's native woodlands to be revealed

A pioneering five-year survey will reveal for the first time the full extent of Scotland's native woodlands.

The Native Woodland Survey of Scotland (NWSS) - carried out by Forestry Commission Scotland - will help create a database of information about Scotland's native woodlands and will include key information such as: how much native woodland Scotland has; what types of native woods they are; what condition they are in; and where they are.

Announcing the Ł4.2 million survey today, Thursday November 9, Scottish Forestry Minister Rhona Brankin, said:

"This is a very exciting project which will provide comprehensive information about our native woodlands.

"Whilst our woodland is increasing, Scotland has only around 2 per cent left of ancient woodland compared with the once-vast expanse of original native forest that covered more than half the land thousands of years ago. Over the past 20 years we have made good progress in protecting these precious fragments, and also in adding new native woodland to our landscape.

"Protecting and expanding our native woodland is important for Scotland, not just because of its nature conservation and heritage value, but for sound economic reasons as well. Activities such as wildlife watching, mountain biking and horse riding are growing significantly and providing new business opportunities in small rural communities, and native woodlands are very attractive places to enjoy these activities.

"The NWSS is a major contributor to improving knowledge in the Commission for better decision making - a key component of the recently launched Scottish Forestry Strategy.

"This survey will be a valuable resource for woodland owners and managers by providing them with information that will help them with management planning. It will also help Forestry Commission Scotland target their support for woodland owners effectively."

To help carry out the survey, 11 employees recently underwent an intensive three week training course to learn a variety of skills, including how to interpret aerial imagery. These key skills will allow the surveyors to interpret the variations in the woods, plan where they are going to go and use the most up-to-date software to log their findings.

Zoe Laird, Project Manager for NWSS, Forestry Commission Scotland, explained:

"The survey will help Forestry Commission Scotland assess the condition of all of our native woods and work out the most important places to make woodland management changes. It will also enable us to understand the potential of the woodland, and how it will survive in the long run, which will help us devise our future management plans.

"The survey team will use the latest technology to record information allowing them to work efficiently and without impact to local woodlands. The team will be scouring brae, glen, moor, field and town to find the native woods. We will be working closely with local landowners to ensure they are aware of our plans to visit."

The surveyors will visit around 730,000 hectares of woodland over five years right across Scotland, surveying around 425,000 hectares in total. The data obtained from the survey will be shared with partners and may be made available to the public in due course. SNH has provided some funding for the project and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland is training the surveyors in recording the archaeological sites that they find in the course of their survey of the woods.

Further information is available from Zoé Laird, tel: 0131 3340304 or email: zoe.laird@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

ADDITIONAL QUOTE:

Duncan Stone, SNH’s Land Use Group Manager, said: “The new information provided by NWSS will move us into a different league in terms of intelligent, targeted native woodland management.

“Up to this point, our knowledge of the location and condition of different woodland types - oakwoods, ashwoods, birchwoods and so on has been incomplete.

“The NWSS will provide us with the ability to tailor our native woodland management and expansion to meet the specific needs of these woodland types both within and outside designated sites.”

Notes to editors:

The NWSS will help Forestry Commission Scotland meet its commitments to the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and report and deliver progress against the Habitat Action Plan.
Native woods and forests are those comprising species of trees and plants that established themselves in Scotland without human help. Well known tree species native to Scotland include Scots pine, pedunculate and sessile oak, wych elm, downy and silver birch, ash, alder, aspen, rowan, juniper and yew. There are estimated to be between 350,000 and 480,000 hectares of native woodland in Scotland, or between 26 and 35 per cent of Scotland's total woodland area. This includes remnants of ancient woodlands, and woodlands comprising native species that have been planted more recently or regenerated naturally. The survey will greatly improve the quality of information about this woodland.
Forestry Commission Scotland serves as the Scottish Executive's forestry department. It manages 668,000 hectares of national forest land for multiple benefits, including nature conservation, public recreation, timber production, and rural and community development; supports other woodland owners with grants, felling licences, advice and regulation; promotes the benefits of forests and forestry; and advises Ministers on forestry policy.

Media Enquiries to:
Claire Martin, Forestry Commission Scotland press office, tel: 0131 314 6506.