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| Wood
Products Trade Introduction North America Europe South America Asia Forests of the World Australia Brazil Canada Chile China Finland Germany Indonesia Japan Korea Mexico Russia United Kingdom Oregon's Forests Forestry Links |
The Forests of the United Kingdom | |||
| Britain's warm wet climate is ideal for growing trees. Historically most
of the country was covered by natural forest, but by the end of World War
1 clearances over the past centuries had reduced the tree cover to 4%. A
regulated forestry sector and a programme of reforestation have increased
this figure to almost 11% an area of 2.4 million hectares.
Approximately 66% of forests in Britain are privately owned, ranging from farmers and small woodland owners to large estates, wood processing companies and pension fund and life assurance companies. Forest Enterprise the management arm of the government’s Forestry Commission manages the remainder. Around 80% of the timber used in the U.K. is softwood (of conifer origin). Productive conifer woodlands cover about 1.5 million hectares, a large proportion of which is in Scotland. Britain also has Europe’s largest man-made forest at Kielder Forest in Northumberland. Of the commercial tree species grown in Britain, 28% of the forest area is Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), 13% is Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) (Britain's only native conifer species), 9% is oak (Quercus petraea and Quercus robur), 7% lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), 6% is Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) and 6% is Norway spruce (Picea abies). In addition there are significant quantities of beech, ash and silver birch. In 1997 the U.K. used 48.3 million cubic metres of timber. Imports met 85% of this demand, making the U.K. one of the largest European markets for forest products. Homegrown timber production currently stands at 9.3 million cubic metres and will reach a peak of 16 million cubic metres in 2025. This future growth offers opportunities for the expansion of U.K. timber markets, currently based on sawnwood, wood-based panels, paper and paperboard and other wood products such as veneers, poles and high value furniture. The U.K. is committed to sustainable forestry management and the centerpiece of the system guiding and monitoring forestry, is the U.K. Forestry Standard. This published standard sets out criteria for the sustainable management of all forest and woodland types in the U.K. The standard includes criteria for forest soil condition, water quality, net carbon sequestration, air pollution, timber production, nature and heritage conservation, workforce competency, rural development and landscape quality. Britain's forests are multi-purpose and with the U.K.'s dense population, recreation is an important use of the forest resource. |
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