Scottish Forestry (previously Forestry Commission Scotland) is the agency responsible for forestry policy, support and regulations.
GWCT engages with Scottish Forestry through consultation responses, participation on the Board and Technical Advisory Group supporting development of Wildlife Estates Scotland accreditation, as well as working to strike balance between productive farming and confronting the challenges of climate change and biodiversity recovery.
Key to finding local blends of land use that achieve solutions is to learn from experience. Scottish Forestry has recently advised about two upcoming events aimed at sharing learning:
Integrating Trees Network - 2nd October
Walking and Talking trees benefits for big and wee beasts with Andy & Debbie Duffus, Mains of Auchriachan, Tomintoul, Wednesday 2nd October, 10 am – 1 pm.
Andy and Debbie Duffus will introduce us to their family’s 1540 ha beef, tenanted hill farm. Sharing their recent ventures into woodland creation and future plans for riparian planting. We'll discuss the initial thought process, the decision to plant trees, objectives, challenges and benefits to the business e.g. more shelter, less feed costs, better productivity, timber and increase in habitat. We will also have a speaker from Scottish Forestry joining us to answer your questions on funding and first steps to woodland creation and a speaker from Spey Catchment Initiative.
- Book your free place here >
- Find out about the Network, its hosts and useful info here >
Integrating Trees Network - 8th October
Walking and Talking trees. A practical look at woodland creation, infrastructure and felling with Andrew Whiteford of Ulzieside Farm, Nr Sanquhar. Tuesday 8th October, 10am – 1pm.
On farm Andrew Whiteford will introduce us to Ulzieside Farm, a 3500 acre hill beef and sheep farm. He will talk about his family’s venture into woodland creation and forest infrastructure, through the Forestry Grant Schemes Sheep and Trees grant. Also discuss a recent felling and what that involved. We'll cover the initial thought process, the decision to plant and fell trees, objectives, challenges and benefits to the business. We will have a speaker from Scottish Forestry joining us to discuss funding and steps to woodland creation.
- Book your free place here >
- Find out about the Network, its hosts and useful info here >