Changing Needs - Changing Forests: The UK Experience
By Tim Rollinson United Kingdom
For delivery at: UNFF Intersessional Experts Meeting on the Role of Planted Forests in Sustainable Forest Management, 24-30 March 2003, New Zealand
Abstract
Introduction
The United Kingdom is a densely-populated country with a long history of forest loss, mostly through conversion to agriculture, and a more recent history of forest expansion.
Forest Loss and Expansion
The UK was once heavily wooded, but the natural forests that established after the last ice age had already been reduced to some 15% of our land area 1000 years ago and to just 5% at the beginning of the 20th century. The UK took drastic action. A state agency - the Forestry Commission - was set up with ambitious programmes to restore the forest cover. From the outset, the programmes were a partnership between the public and private sectors. By 2000, over 1.5 million hectares of new forests had been created - the biggest change in land use in the UK in modern times. Woodland cover is now 12%.
Changing Priorities
The policy objectives for forestry have changed just as dramatically. The early priorities were national security - to create a strategic reserve of timber - and rural employment, though even in the 1930s the Government understood the value of the new forests for outdoor recreation and health. During the late 1980s, concerns to protect remaining areas of open, ecologically valuable land created a backlash against large-scale afforestation programmes in the uplands of Britain. The Government made changes to the regulation of forestry, the incentives for forest creation and management, and introduced new forestry standards. Following the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, forestry policy became based on principles of sustainable forest management, with the publication by the Government of a UK Programme and a UK Standard for sustainable forestry.
More recently, social issues have moved up the agenda alongside economic and environmental programmes. New partnerships have been developed to create community forests and encourage participation in management of the state forests. Forest planning has become sophisticated and is supported by a multidisciplinary research effort to allow managers to optimise and find the appropriate balance for the benefits that forests can provide.
Conclusion
In just 80 years, a new planted forest resource has been created in the UK. The use of the forests has changed as dramatically as the landscapes. The new forests were created to meet a narrow set of objectives. Today different objectives are required of the same forests. We recognise the value of the planted forests - and the wood from them - as a sustainable, natural, and renewable resource, able to provide multiple and diverse services as well as products. Experience in the UK has shown that planted forests can be adapted to meet rapidly changing policy priorities and public needs and perceptions. The paper describes this experience.
Changing Needs – Changing Forests: The UK Experience
Introduction
The United Kingdom is a densely-populated, industrialised country with a long history of forest loss, and a much shorter, and more recent, history of forest expansion. This paper sets out the background to the creation of new planted forests in the United Kingdom; explains why these planted forests are of value; draws together some of the lessons learnt in order to maximise the benefits; and provides some concluding remarks on how planted forests can contribute to sustainable development.
Background - Changing Needs
Forest Loss
The United Kingdom was once heavily wooded, but forest loss over many centuries in favour of human settlements, agriculture and industry, had already eroded this to about 15% some 1000 years ago, and to just 5% forest cover by 1900. Although they were of natural origin, direct or indirect human influence had altered all of these remaining forests. Further felling to aid the war effort in 1914-1918 had exposed the UK to the risk of relying on imports of an essential primary industrial resource and convinced the Government of the day to undertake a serious forest expansion programme.
Forest Expansion
A state forestry department - the Forestry Commission - was set up in 1919 with the principal objective of creating a strategic reserve of timber as a matter of national security. From the outset, the Commission set ambitious targets for forest planting by private landowners and on the state forest land, and provided advice and financial encouragement to private owners to rehabilitate their depleted forests. The Forestry Commission took the lead in developing the techniques of plantation forestry, backed by a strong forestry research programme. Much of the available land had not been forested for centuries and the technical problems of establishing tree cover were formidable.
A powerful machine was created through a combination of scientific research, integrated with operational planning, training, and a committed work force, strongly supported by the Government, and pursuing a largely single purpose objective - to expand the forest area. New techniques were developed and it soon became possible to create fast-growing planted forests on land that had previously been considered as unsuitable and unplantable. The foresters and forest workers of the day were pioneers and the new planted forests that they created were successful in achieving the national policy objectives of the time. Plantation forestry was seen as the way forward and the means of rebuilding the nation’s forest resources.
From the very start, the forestry programme was a partnership. The Forestry Commission developed the technology for the new forests. Private landowners collaborated by making land available and by restoring their own forests. Later on, wood processors made major new investments, knowing that secure supplies of raw material would be available. More recently, partnerships have been extended to a wider set of stakeholders as forestry has become more diverse.
Forest Area Doubled
The programme had considerable success. In just 80 years, over 1.5 million hectares of new planted forests had been created - the biggest single change in land use in the United Kingdom in modern times. By the year 2000, the UK’s woodland area had been more than doubled, from 5% of land cover to 12%. About one-third of all woodland in the UK is managed by state forest services and the rest by private individuals, forestry businesses and other public sector bodies, communities and charities (Forestry Statistics, 2002).
Policy Priorities
A strongly utilitarian approach was followed with timber production as a priority. Even so, as early as the 1920s, the Forestry Commission was promoting forests as a place for healthy outdoor recreation. The first of a series of National Forest Parks was created in the 1930s - well before legislation for National Parks was introduced in 1947. At the same time, however, the new planting - while strongly supported by the Government - was not without controversy. For example, the planting of conifer forests in the Lake District in England was seen as an intrusion into a highly valued scenic landscape. It was bitterly opposed and sparked the formation of the Council for the Protection of Rural England in 1927. This was one of the foundations for the organised environmental movement in the United Kingdom. The reaction was very much concerned with the visual aesthetic and this is still a strong influence in the way that the countryside is perceived.
From the 1950s to 1970s there was gradual recognition of wider forestry values, particularly recreation and wildlife conservation. During the 1980s, this interest grew and there was a backlash, particularly against the planting of non-native conifer plantations in the uplands. The marginal agricultural land was increasingly being recognised for its nature conservation and cultural values as a semi-natural habitat that is found in few other places in the world. Forestry planting became a focus of bitter conflict.
Controls and Incentives
Throughout most of the 20th century, the Forestry Commission had been able to control tree felling through statutory regulation. Planting and management of woodlands were encouraged through tax incentives and grants to private owners, and through state ownership of up to 40% of the forest resources. Other than for tree felling, the regulations were largely based on voluntary principles (a typically British approach) rather than forestry legislation. This approach provided flexibility, allowing policies and practice to be adapted as the need arose. During the 1970s and 80s, the very favourable tax incentives which had been offered to the private sector to create new forests were seen to be encouraging planting schemes that were increasingly disputed and unpopular. Tax relief appeared to be fuelling an engine that seemed, to those concerned about the scale of land use change and its impact on the countryside and with the conversion of unimproved land, to be out of control.
In 1988, the tax regime was changed in favour of direct grants to private owners for forest creation and management. The new grants were tailored to promote a much wider range of forest planting. There was greater emphasis on planting native species, on small-scale woods, on community woodlands offering public access, on enhancing biodiversity in the new forests, and on managing existing woodland for public benefits. The new grants were conditional on compliance with best practice. Statutory environmental impact assessment of large-scale afforestation proposals came into force in 1989. The Forestry Commission introduced a system of consultation with local government, agriculture departments, environmental agencies, non-governmental organisations, and local people, in order to reconcile conflicts.
UK Standards and Indicators of Sustainable Forestry
The UK strongly supported the Statement of Forest Principles agreed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, and has since played an active role in international forestry processes. Following commitments made at the Earth Summit and at the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe in Helsinki in 1993, the UK reviewed its guidance to forest managers and, after public multi-stakeholder consultations, published the UK Forestry Standard in 1998. This set out the Government’s framework and standards for the sustainable forest management of all woodlands and forests in the UK. The Standard was supported by both the domestic industry and environmental organisations. It is built on a series of guidelines on issues such as landscape design, nature conservation, water management, recreation, archaeology and soil conservation. These are themselves supported by a range of more detailed guidance and information to forest managers and owners on sustainable forest practice.
The Standard is monitored through Indicators of Sustainable Forestry, published in 2002 (Forestry Commission, 2002), and through a wide range of survey data and research findings that provide information about the current state and trends of our woodlands. This work informs the reports we make internationally. The UK Indicators, based on criteria and indicators developed internationally at a European level, show woodlands’ contribution to sustainable development.
The UK Government also facilitated the development of a standard for forest certification - the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS). UKWAS was developed in response to the growing demand from retailers for timber products from sustainably managed forests. In 2000, the entire UK public forest estate managed by the Forestry Commission and the Northern Ireland Forest Service was certified against the Standard. Wood products from state forests are now eligible to carry the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo of sustainable forest management. About 40% of woodlands in the UK have now been certified and 60% of timber production from UK forests is now potentially available to the market as certified.
20 Years of Change
The 1980s and 1990s saw huge changes to forestry policies, the regulation of new forestry planting, the incentives to encourage forest creation and sustainable forest management, and forestry standards. These changes led to significant changes in forest management and practice, particularly in efforts to convert single purpose timber plantations into more diverse ecosystems capable of delivering a wide range of services. By the end of the 1990s, forestry’s role as an agent for sustainable development had become well established.
Following political devolution in the UK in 1999, responsibility for forestry was devolved to a new Parliament in Scotland and a National Assembly in Wales (forestry had much earlier been devolved to Northern Ireland). The new administrations have published forestry strategies setting out the policies and programmes for forestry in each country of the United Kingdom (England, 1998; Scotland, 2000; Wales, 2001; Northern Ireland, 2002).
In 2001, the forestry industries in the UK, from nurseries to wood processors and importers, agreed to work together to produce a sustainability strategy for the forestry sector. Through the Forest Industries Development Council (the umbrella body for the industry in the UK), the industry engaged environmental and social stakeholder organisations in this process and published a draft strategy, including targets for progress on all significant aims and impacts, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September 2002.
In February 2003, the UK Government published Sustainable Forestry in the UK: The UK’s National Forest Programme, drawing together the forestry strategies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the UK Forestry Standard. The Programme provides the framework for policy and practice on sustainable forest management in the UK.
Why the Planted Forests are Valuable – The Benefits
UK Forest Resources
Unlike many other parts of the world where forests have been planted, the UK has no remaining natural forests and less than one-quarter of woodland is semi-natural (native woodland which is not obviously planted). The remainder - some 75% of the UK forest resources - are planted. The focus of this paper is on the forests that were planted in the 20th century. In a densely populated, industrialised country, with only a small forest area, these planted forests have to satisfy a multiplicity of purposes. Many are now highly valued by a wide range of interests. They have become more diverse as they have matured. They are no longer seen simply as places to produce timber and, in many areas, this is no longer their primary function.
In many parts of the UK, particularly in the heavily-populated south of England, the planted forests are widely used for outdoor recreation. There are often few other available alternatives. In a recent survey of countryside use, some 350 million visits a year were made to forests - larger even than visits to the coast (UK Day Visits Survey 1998). As far as much of the public is concerned, the planted forests are spaces for consumption of services rather than places of primary production. We now recognise the importance of our planted forests - and the wood coming from them - as a sustainable, natural and renewable resource, able to provide multiple and diverse services as well as products.
Wood production from the maturing planted forests is currently around 10 million cubic metres a year and continuing to rise (Forestry Statistics, 2002). This is set to increase to 17 million cubic metres a year by 2020. Even so, we produce only about 15% of our wood needs domestically. The UK is a major importer of wood and wood products, with imports of around £8 billion each year. As a consequence, the UK’s impact on the way forests are managed in other countries - our ‘forestry footprint’ - is significant. Prices in the UK are set by imports in a free world market and recent trends have been markedly down. The profitability of forestry in the UK is now so low as to raise issues about the value of planted forests for solely commercial purposes. This situation is unlikely to improve for UK growers as future increases in demand for wood are predicted to be met by increasing supplies from forest plantations around the world (FAO, 2001). Cost effective management is more important than ever.
Environmental and Social Benefits
Over the last 20 years, there has been a broadening in the objectives for which we manage our forests. The uniformity of the new plantations was much criticised in the past. Lacking age or species diversity, they were often considered to be intrusive in the landscape, unattractive to visit, and poor habitats for wildlife. The new forests have become more mature and positive actions have been taken through forest management planning to diversify the tree species and age structure. The planted forests are now seen as important in their own right. Research indicates that the public is not as ambivalent about the new forests as we had thought. Once the trees are grown and the woods have developed structural diversity, the public makes little distinction between planted and semi-natural woods - but is quite sophisticated and values woodlands for a diversity of reasons.
There has been a steady and increasing demand for outdoor recreation in forests. With the growth of car ownership, leisure time and personal incomes, the forests have become more valuable as recreational resources. The main demand has been for access for walking, but is becoming more diverse. Today a wide range of traditional and new outdoor activities take advantage of the forests, for example orienteering, car rallying, cross-country cycling, fishing, wildlife observation, riding and trekking. Recent surveys show some 300-400 million visits a year to forests in Great Britain (Forestry Statistics 2001). They have potential to link to local businesses and add economic value, particularly in rural areas.
Over time, the new forests have also become a part of the land use pattern and not seen as a new intrusion. While many of the planted forests will never reflect the full diversity of natural forests, they are increasingly recognised for their biodiversity potential. Some are now recognised as priority habitats under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (1994). The potential for further enhancing biodiversity in the planted forests extends beyond simple environmental protection to active management for biodiversity, for example, through increasing open space, improving regeneration, maintaining dead wood, managing remnants of ancient woodland within them, and increasing species diversity.
We are also coming to realise that forests have real benefits for mental health and physical well-being (through accessibility for relaxation and gentle exercise) especially around towns. There are now several examples of health professionals promoting the use of forests to their patients.
Tree planting of all kinds, including planted forests of non-native species, contributes to carbon sequestration. Under the Kyoto Protocol, new woodland planted since 1990 contributes to the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions targets. While the amounts are modest, they are nevertheless positive and welcome. We also recognise that protection of existing carbon stores represented by forests is a rather more substantial contribution to the carbon economy and to our obligations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
There has been growing public appreciation of woods and forests as desirable in themselves. Ownership of woods and forests by individuals and organisations such as charitable trusts and wildlife organisations, for non-commercial purposes, has been increasing in recent years. Along with changes in forest practice and ownership has gone an enormous increase in public involvement in forestry.
Planted Forests - a Versatile Resource
In response to the changing policies for management of the forests, changes to the regulatory environment, changing public perceptions, and changing needs of society, the planted forests have demonstrated that they can be a very versatile resource. They are valued for providing a wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits, and a balance amongst these benefits is critical for sustainable forestry. These benefits may include marketable outputs such as timber and commercial recreation, which can generate employment and income to help sustain rural communities, as well as a range of non-market benefits, such as open-access, non-priced recreation, landscape enhancement, and other environmental and educational benefits.
However, this needs to be focused. While multi-benefit forestry is the right approach for the UK, this does not mean that all forests should produce the same outputs. Clear objectives of management need to be set. From an economic perspective, under-valuation of the social and environmental benefits impedes the efficient allocation of resources to achieve sustainable forest management. The range of benefits generated by the forestry sector has also increased awareness of the role of forestry in supporting the wider rural economy as part of an integrates approach to rural development.
Valuing the Benefits
The Forestry Commission is currently funding research to estimate values for a range of non-market social and environmental benefits of forestry. The following non-market benefits are being examined: biodiversity, landscape, recreation, carbon sequestration, water quantity and quality, air pollution absorption, and archaeology. Early results show that the values are substantial (University of Newcastle, 2003). We are therefore able to make a strong case for forestry based on economic studies into the value of their environmental services, and also through social research that connects with the consensus of consumerist society. Further analysis of non-market benefits in the future could play an important role in appraising and evaluating forest policies, programmes and projects.
The high value of the social and environmental services (mostly not traded in the market place) and the low profitability of forestry explain in part the relatively large public sector ownership of forest resources in the UK and the recognition of the special roles that public forests can play. The history of forestry in the UK shows that a wide range of arguments, based on providing public benefits, have been used to underpin the case for continued public investment to increase the forest area and to maintain the flow of economic, environmental and social goods and services from the forests.
In providing these public benefits, we face the same dilemma as in many other parts of the world. Timber revenues are no longer sufficient to meet the diversity of demands made on the forests. There is a cost to good landscapes, clean air and water, diverse habitats, unfettered public access and participative management. Costs within the sector are rising as income falls. The case for public support for forestry seems unassailable - but the same is also true for schools, hospitals, roads and a dozen other calls on the public purse. In the same way that we are in competition when we sell our timber, so are we in competition when we seek for public funding. The case has to be made based on good evidence, skillful argument and political acumen. This is a new set of skills needed for the 21st century.
Lessons Learned - Maximising the Benefits
The United Kingdom experience - and the lessons we have learned, particularly in the last 10 years - suggest a number of ways in which the benefits from planted forests can be maximised. Some key issues for the UK have been:
- setting standards for sustainable forestry;
- high quality research;
- forest planning to implement sustainable practices;
- partnerships with stakeholders in the forestry sector and the wider public; and
- a continued process of responding to new demands by adjusting policies and practice.
These are dealt with below:
Standards for Sustainable Forests and Wood Products
Over the last 5 years, the UK has focused attention on achieving well-managed forests through the development and monitoring of sustainable forest standards and management. As noted in the previous section, the UK Government published a UK Forestry Standard in 1998. The Standard brings together in one document the criteria and standards for sustainable management for forests in the UK. It is based on international principles and practical forest management issues related to major components of the forest ecosystem and human resources.
A practical approach was taken deliberately in order to build on guidance that was already familiar to UK forest managers. The Standard provides a description of the legal and environmental context in which forest management decisions need to be taken and describes the practices appropriate to a variety of operations and management systems. It is linked to a range of supporting publications which provide more detailed advice. The forestry practices set out in the Standard are delivered through a range of regulatory and incentive mechanisms, including grant aid for forestry planting and management, statutory regulation of tree felling and environmental impact assessment.
The success in obtaining recognition of the UK Forestry Standard by all the main stakeholder interests encouraged their representatives to work together towards the production of a voluntary standard for forest certification. Partners worked on an independent standard and, after huge effort in various pan-sectoral working groups, were able to publish the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS) in 1999. Foresters had to acknowledge that they did not know everything about forest management and that others had a legitimate view. Environmental groups had to temper their ideals with practicality.
Recent research into the impact of certification has shown that certification has improved forest management and operational practices in the UK. Woodland managers have benefited from an external review of their management proposals and subsequent operational decisions, in particular in areas such as biodiversity management, restoration of ancient woodland and reduction in the use of chemicals. There has been justifiable complaint that bureaucracy has increased, and work is underway to match requirements for documentation to the scale and sensitivity of the site and the impact of the proposed management activities. From a regulatory point of view, certification can provide Government with assurances that agreed standards are being met in the forest.
While some retail markets and overseas markets demand certified supply, demand from the buying public remains weak. A challenge for wood promotion programmes espousing sustainable forest management is to increase the profile of legal and sustainably produced timber in purchasing decisions such as housing. The UK Government has taken a leading role by adopting a policy of purchasing wood products that derive from legal and sustainably managed sources. There is concern in the industry that unless evidence of sustainable production can be communicated easily and at low cost to producers, wood will be disadvantaged against other materials (such as concrete and plastic) which are not subject to a similar scrutiny of environmental and social impact.
At the outset, there was scepticism in the UK about the possibility of producing a practical forestry standard, and even more about independent forest certification. A key lesson learned has been that the effort required to agree the UK Forestry Standard, and subsequently the UK Woodland Assurance Standard, has been rewarded by much clearer mutual understanding of policy and strategy among all stakeholders and has led to changes in sustainable management practices. This required perseverance and an inclusive approach.
Research
From the outset of the post-war expansion in forestry, the UK Government played a leading role in supporting forestry research. The shift in emphasis over the last 20 years from commercial production of wood to the provision of environmental and social services has required increasingly innovative management and, in turn, investment in research and knowledge transfer. While research programmes in silvicultural management and wood production have been maintained, there has been a shift of emphasis on the role that forests play in sustaining our quality of life.
The Forestry Commission’s research agency (Forest Research) has had an important role in providing the core of long-term research. It is the source of much of the scientific advice on which the Forestry Commission - as a Department of Government - depends. The Forestry Commission has published a Research Strategy (Forestry Commission 2001) which sets out the strategic programme of research. Implementation of the Strategy is intended to secure the research and development capability, based on scientific and technical excellence, that is needed to support the efficient and sustainable practice of forestry in the UK.
As noted previously, the early research focussed on increasing yields and reducing the costs of timber production. Today, sustainability is the key driver. The emphasis on forestry research has been changed - and will continue to change. For innovation in attitude and practice to succeed in improving sustainability of UK woodlands, forest researchers in all areas must maintain and improve contacts with managers, owners and regulators. As a result of a recent review, we are taking steps to improve the arrangements for commissioning research through greater engagement with stakeholders. An increase in emphasis in our research programmes is now being put on effective knowledge transfer by demonstration and on-site advice.
The development of forestry in the UK has been an exercise in innovation led by good quality applied research. Throughout this period, the research and development programmes have been continuously adapted to reflect changing policy priorities. A key to success is the translation of the results of research into new policies and practices.
Forest Planning
In the 1970s, forest design planning - initially focused on the visual landscape - became a part of standard training for forest managers. Today, landscape design planning for state forests has been replaced by a much broader and sophisticated forest planning process, incorporating all aspects of forest management: economic, environmental and social. The aim is to create attractive and productive forests, which blend with the landscape, are rich in wildlife and are efficient to manage. How this balance is achieved and what is appropriate in individual circumstances depends on local conditions and priorities.
Within the UK, forest planning is the process which has been developed to ensure that plans for change to the structure of existing woods, or the creation of new ones, will meet the UK’s requirements for sustainable forest management. The process takes into account the physical, biological, human and cultural resources described in the UK Forestry Standard. This planning process within the state forestry service has been strengthened in recent years. New planning procedures, supported by geographical information systems, help to integrate management, resource values and development. There is an integrated approach linking regional strategic plans, landscape scale forest design plans and activity based operational plans. A guide to good practice for Forest Design Planning in the UK has been published (Forestry Commission 1998).
The early development of forest plans was partly in response to public concerns about the appearance of new planting in the 1970s. Managers quickly began to incorporate social and environmental aspects in the plans and used them to explain their management intentions to local people, local government and to special interest groups. Not surprisingly, local people were not only interested, but had valuable knowledge and experience to contribute. Panels of local people were set up to advise the managers of the state forests on developing the plans.
Today, the forest plans are the strategic heart of business planning in the state forests managed by the Forestry Commission, driving both forest management programmes and financial planning. Subject to regular review, extensive consultation processes are in place with a wide range of stakeholders. Formal participatory techniques are used, with computerised mapping and visualisation, surveys and meetings to gather outside opinion. Many of the forest districts depend on partnership programmes for a large part of their income. For example in the Lake District in England, a popular tourist destination and a National Park, almost 40% of the district's income comes from partners in recreation and environment projects. The forest plans are a means of engaging with partners and building their needs into sustainable forest management. Larger private sector forest owners have been encouraged (through grants, advice and research) to develop their own forestry planning systems.
Good forest design planning allows forest managers to maximise the benefits from planted forests. The planning process is all the more critical because the consequences of actions may be a long way in the future. Plans need to allow for flexibility. Actions taken today will affect the options open to future generations. Forest planning can provide the framework for managing change.
Partnerships
The development of forestry in the UK has been founded on partnerships of interest. From the early days, the Forestry Commission worked closely with private landowners to achieve the ambitious programmes of forest expansion. The need to include a wider range of stakeholders in the development of policy and the management of forests in the UK has resulted in new partnerships being created to deliver sustainable forest management.
From the very start the Commission understood that there was little point to the new forests without a processing industry to take their products. The new forestry was to be taken forward through the closest collaboration between the Forestry Commission, private landowners and wood processors. An important milestone in the 1980s, when volume production from the new planted forests really started to take off, was an initiative to encourage major capital investment in sawmilling, paper and board production. Over £1 billion was invested in new capacity in the space of 7- 8 years. This could not have happened had the Forestry Commission not been able to guarantee secure supplies of timber (delivered at open market prices) to the new processing plants. The UK’s ownership structure, with relatively concentrated ownership of planted forests, has been an important commercial advantage, partly offsetting the small overall size of the forestry sector.
The professional forestry sector in the UK is quite small and, over time, a culture of consensus has been developed, where progress is made through dialogue between stakeholders. In the early years we defined stakeholders very narrowly - today we are much more inclusive, but the underlying tradition of informal dialogue remains and still stands us in good stead. It enables good ideas to come forward from across the whole forestry sector, and bad ideas to be recognised at an early stage. It also allows us to draw on accumulated wisdom and a broad spectrum of experience.
A very recent example is the setting up of a UK Forest Partnership for Action. This Partnership was developed as a result of meetings held in the run up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002. Our Prime Minister invited a group, co-ordinated by the Forestry Commission, to represent the forestry sector in the UK. Members of the Partnership include the forest and wood processing industries, Government departments, devolved government administrations and environmental organisations. The Partnership’s aim is to promote sustainable development in the forestry sector, both at home and internationally. The Partnership is the main platform at UK level for taking forward our WSSD commitments on forestry. The partners have agreed priority areas for action on forest certification, illegal logging, timber procurement, and forest restoration and protection.
Another recent example is an international partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration between the UK Government (through the Forestry Commission), IUCN (the World Conservation Union), and WWF (the conservation organisation). Forest landscape restoration is an important component of implementation of the work programmes of the UN Forum on Forests, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Plan of Implementation on forests of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The partnership aims to establish a network of organisations, governments and people working on forest landscape restoration around the world, with partners coming together to learn from each other and to identify, undertake and support restoration activities. The UK will be providing support, drawing on the 80 years’ of experience of forest restoration and the lessons learned.
Partnerships at all levels - from international, to national, regional and local levels - have been developed across the forestry sector in the UK in recent years. The UK Government actively supported the development of sectoral partnerships between Government, businesses and non-governmental organisations in the run up to the World Summit and beyond. This recognises that Governments cannot deliver alone all of the actions needed to deliver sustainable development. Partnerships between the public, private and corporate sectors, and more recently, with the voluntary sector have been a key to the success of many forestry programmes in the UK. Programmes have usually been successful where partnerships have been strong, and inclusive.
Adjusting Policies
One of the key lessons of UK experience is not to get too hung up on definitions of 'forestry'. The Forestry Commission has expertise in managing extensive areas of land and forest. Provided that we are working within the framework of sustainable management then we should be aiming to maximise the benefits - in whatever form is most appropriate - from each of our forests. There is therefore no question that recreation and environment are the most important benefits in public forests close to large centres of population. Or, conversely, that timber production will continue to be the key to the future of many forests in remote rural areas with few alternative sources of employment.
But we need to recognise that priorities can change as perceptions, knowledge and understanding change. For example, it is only quite recently that we have started to employ social science researchers. One of the insights that this has given us is into the links between individual and community identity and sense of place. This has led us to work closely with community development agencies in projects to improve local environments and build local pride and self-esteem. In some cases this has also had direct benefits to local enterprise and forest production.
The key lesson we have learnt is the need to be responsive and flexible. Through being responsive we find that our forests are valued and are relevant to modern society - and that we too are valued and relevant.
Organisational Change and Culture
Throughout all of this change the Forestry Commission has remained the pre-eminent forestry body in the UK. It has not done so without change to its organisational structure but even more importantly to its culture. There is more to be done but in essence the Forestry Commission has:
- become outward looking, embracing international fora and external interests within the UK, and making links between the high level statements on SFM and our people on the ground who have to achieve the practical expression;
- moved away from being a hierarchical organisation suited to rapid expansion of a forest estate focussing on creation of strategic timber supplies, to an organisation where decisions are taken closer to the forest unit involving inputs of a wide range of stakeholders;
- made links with other policy areas recognising that the definition of a well functioning forest goes beyond the physical borders of the forest unit into its contribution to a well functioning physical, biological and sound landscape.
This has been achieved by focussing on our people (recruitment, training and development) to achieve the right organisation to support the changing needs of our changing forests.
Concluding Remarks - Planted Forests and Sustainable Development
In the UK, a major new forest resource, based on planted forests, has been created in just 80 years. The development of the new resource has been controversial and not without conflict. Many lessons have been learned along the way. But as the forests have matured, they have become highly valued. In a relatively small country with a large population, the forests are under pressure. Today, we recognise that they can provide a wide variety of services - with products that we need and use in our everyday lives - but also environmental and aesthetic services such as biodiversity, recreation and carbon sequestration.
In UK conditions, we have to take a wide view, and not one based solely on wood production. Even so, the UK imports around 85% of our wood needs, so putting pressure on other countries’ forest resources. The world needs wood, and planted forests - properly and responsibly managed to internationally agreed standards - are a very efficient way of producing that wood. Put simply, producing wood from planted forests can take the pressure off more sensitive natural forests that we might want to protect.
We value the forests - and the wood from them - as a sustainable, natural and renewable resource, able to provide multiple and diverse services as well as products. Today, sustainability is the key driver of change. Balancing the demands on the forests for economic, environmental and social services is complex and requires co-operation at all levels, and scientific underpinning.
The forest sector, in UK conditions, suffers from low profitability. The case for state support forestry cannot be made on the basis of timber supply alone. But the UK is short of forests, and well managed forests contribute to social, economic and environmental improvements. In the UK, the multifunctional forests of the future will not be the same as the planted forests we established largely for timber production. They will be richer in biodiversity, designed for people, and part of functioning landscapes. But they will also produce timber as an environmentally sound source of construction material, fibre, and renewable energy.
Recent economic studies of the value of the social and environmental benefits shows that they are very substantial indeed. There is strong justification for public support. But there are very many other demands on the public purse. What the forestry sector has to offer - uniquely - is the delivery of a sustainable supply of products and services from the planted forests. The public and the Government increasingly demand assurances that the forests are managed sustainably. The certification of all the state forests in the UK - which are predominantly planted forests - provides an important "seal of approval". There has been a sea change in the way the sector is now viewed in the UK.
Our experience in the UK, and this applies to many other countries, is that we are able to "put something back" for future generations. Unlike most other sectors of activity, we can say with confidence that we will be passing on to future generations a resource - a planted forest resource - that will be of greater value than the one we inherited.
References:
A New Focus for England’s Woodlands - England Forestry Strategy, 1998: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
Biodiversity: The UK Action Plan, 1994: (Cm 2428) HMSO
Forest Design Planning in the UK, 1998: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
Forests for Scotland – The Scottish Forestry Strategy, 2000: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
Forestry in Northern Ireland – Consultation Paper, 2002: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland
Forestry Statistics, 2001: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
Forestry Statistics, 2002: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration: Investing in People and Nature, 2003, WWF International, IUCN – The World Conservation, Forestry Commission of Great Britain
Research Strategy, 2001: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
State of the World’s Forests, 2001: FAO
Sustainable Forestry – The UK Programme, 1994: (Cm 2429) HMSO
Sustainable Forestry in the UK; The UK’s National Forest Programme, 2003: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
The Social and Environmental Benefits of Forests in Great Britain, 2003: University of Newcastle
The UK Forestry Standard – The Government’s Approach to Sustainable Forestry, 1998: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
UK Day Visits Survey, 1998: National Centre for Social Research, London
UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS), 1999: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
Woodlands for Wales – The National Assembly for Wales Strategy for Trees and Woodland, 2001: Forestry Commission, Edinburgh
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