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Conifers for Colleges
Ian Gambles
DirectorForestry Commission England
Royal Forestry Society5th November 2014
Conifers for Colleges2
What I am going to cover
• The conifer challenge…
• Pests and diseases• Climate change• Anti-conifer sentiment• Loss of silvicultural skills
• … and what we can all do about it
Conifers for Colleges4
Broadleaf woodland in England
5 species make up 77% of the total
Acute Oak Decline
Oak processionary moth
ChalaraGrey Squirrel
Deer
Drought
Chestnut Blight
Phytophthora alni
Conifers for Colleges5
Conifer woodland in England 6 species makes up 89% of the total
Lappet moth
Dothistroma DNB
Phytophthora ramorum
Spruce aphid
Drought
Conifers for Colleges7
Climate change and silviculture
35
0
2
of 15
Current origins
Future origins?
Is what we are planting now adapted to known climate change?
Conifers for Colleges8
Anti-conifer sentiment
• Right to protect and restore ancient woodland• Understandable that the mistakes of a
previous generation are not forgotten• BUT• Contemporary certified afforestation is far
beyond outdated perceptions – and creates places of beauty, biodiversity, recreational and direct production value
• English timber production and processing contributes £2.1 billion GVA
• With rising pressure on land use and land values, uneconomic woodland is at long-term risk
Conifers for Colleges9
An alarming table
• New conifer planting (thousands of hectares):
England UK
2010 ? ?
2011 ? ?
2012 ? ?
2013 ? ?
2014 ? ?
Conifers for Colleges10
An alarming table
• New conifer planting (thousands of hectares):
England UK
2010 0 0.5
2011 0 1.8
2012 0 3.5
2013 0 1.9
2014 0 2.2
Conifers for Colleges11
The skills challenge
• “Rediscovery” of silviculture relies entirely on skilled foresters to carry it through – but the workforce is ageing
• Secondary education – English woodland culture missing from the curriculum; focus only on global deforestation issues
• Further and higher education – loss of institutions and courses, drift from forestry to broader environmental disciplines
• But together we can tackle this…
Conifers for Colleges12
Tackling pests and diseases
• A top ministerial priority:• Continuing control action and surveying to
limit spread of phytophthora ramorum• Forest Research programmes working on
dothistroma, pine tree lappet moth etc• More investment in import controls –
significant interceptions recently• Systems improvement – plant health risk
register, increasing sector and stakeholder understanding and co-operation
Conifers for Colleges13
Planting for the future on the PFE
Previous planting Current planting
2010-11:
“Big 6” – 88%
Alternative conifers: 2%
Broadleaves: 10%
2013-14:
“Big 4” – 68%
Alternative conifers: 17%
Broadleaves: 15%
Conifers for Colleges14
Research and information
Conifers for Colleges15
Supporting conifers
• What the Commission is doing:• Public Forest Estate supplies 58% of English
softwood. We planted 4.5 million conifers last season.
• Forest Research programmes working on timber quality for alternative species – and our improved Sitka yields +25%
• Woodland creation grants will continue to support conifer planting
• Above all – supporting the sector’s own initiatives: Grown in Britain, Roots to Prosperity, Woodland Carbon Code etc
Conifers for Colleges16
Skills – lots of good news
• Apprenticeships on the rise:• Forestry Trailblazer announced this week• Forestry Skills Initiative• FC apprenticeships
• Working with schools• Forests for the Future – KS2• RFS Teaching Trees• Herefordshire Hub
• HE & FE – on the way back?• Reading, Birmingham, ICF, RFS…• …and Conifers for Colleges