Forestry Commission - News - 2008 forestry statistics published

The latest National Statistics on forestry produced by the Forestry Commission were released today, 25 September 2008, according to the arrangements approved by the United Kingdom Statistics Authority.

Detailed statistics are published in the web publication 'Forestry Statistics 2008', with an extract in the booklet 'Forestry Facts & Figures 2008'. They include data on woodland area, planting, timber, trade, environment, recreation, employment, finance and prices for the UK.

Key points emerging from the latest statistics are:

the woodland area in the United Kingdom in 2008 is 2.8 million hectares, 1.3 million hectares of which are independently certified as sustainably managed;
about 8000 hectares of new woodland were created in the UK in 2007-08;
about 9.2 million green tonnes of UK timber (roundwood) were delivered to primary wood processors and others in 2007;
wood products imported into the UK in 2007 were valued at Ł6.8 billion and comprised about 14 million cubic metres of wood (roundwood, sawnwood and wood-based panels) and about 9 million tonnes of pulp and paper;
UK forest and wood products help to counter carbon dioxide emissions by removing about 4 million tonnes of carbon per year;
47 per cent of UK woodland provided and encouraged public access in 2007;
77 per cent of people across the UK have visited woodland in the past few years for walks, picnics or other recreation;
the Forestry Commission's net expenditure on the public forests that it manages totalled Ł60 million in 2007-08, and a further Ł138 million were spent by the Commission on other activities, including grants, administration and research.

The on-line versions of 'Forestry Statistics 2008' and 'Forestry Facts & Figures 2008' can both be downloaded from the statistics area of the Forestry Commission's website, www.forestry.gov.uk/statistics.

Free hard copies of 'Forestry Facts & Figures 2008' can be ordered from Forestry Commission Publications, PO Box 25, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7EW; e-mail: forestry@capita.co.uk; telephone 0870 121 4180; fax: 0970 121 4181, quoting stock code FCFS208. A bilingual Welsh-English version, stock code FCFS308, is also available.

For further information, contact Jackie Watson in the Forestry Commission's Economics & Statistics unit, tel: 0131 314 6171;
e-mail: statistics@forestry.gsi.gov.uk.

NOTES TO EDITOR:

The government departments for forestry in the UK are the Forestry Commission (for Great Britain), and Northern Ireland's Forest Service, which is part of the Department of Agriculture & Rural Development of Northern Ireland (DARDNI). 'Forestry Statistics 2008' and 'Forestry Facts & Figures 2008' bring together statistics collated by both organisations to provide forestry data for the whole United Kingdom. For further information, visit www.forestry.gov.uk and www.forestserviceni.gov.uk.
"Certified" woodland is woodland whose management has been independently assessed as being sustainable and environmentally sound. Most certified woodland in the UK is certified against the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS). This entitles products from that woodland to carry the logo of the independent, international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and/or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) as an assurance to buyers that they come from sustainable, well managed woodland.

Media contact: Charlton Clark, 0131 314 6500