UK Forestry Commission: woodland area, planting and restocking

Jun 17, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. Provisional data for the year to March 2005.

This release contains provisional data for new woodland creation (new planting) and replanting of existing areas of woodland (restocking), in the year to 31 March 2005. The figures cover all types of woodland, planted by both the Forestry Commission and other (non-FC) owners. Using the new planting statistics for non-Forestry Commission owners (together with Forestry Commission disposals data), estimates are made of the area of non-FC woodlands in Great Britain at 31 March 2005 by projecting forward results of the 1995-1999 national inventory of woodland and trees.

The main findings are:

• The estimated woodland area in Great Britain, at 31 March 2005, is 2.74 million hectares (12.0% of the surface area of GB). Of this, 1.96 million hectares is owned by private woodland owners and non-FC public sector bodies.

• Around 12 thousand hectares of new woodland were created in Great Britain in the year to 31 March 2005.

• Most new planting is broadleaf species (over 9 thousand hectares, compared with around 2 thousand hectares of coniferous species).

• Around 14 thousand hectares of woodland was restocked in Great Britain in the year to 31 March 2005.

Table 1:  

Area of woodland 2005

Most public sector woodland is owned and managed by the Forestry Commission. There is also woodland owned by local authorities, the ministry of defence, and other public sector bodies. In the following table all non-Forestry Commission public sector woodland and privately owned woodland is shown as ‘non-FC’.

                                                                                                                            thousands of hectares

Notes:

1. Areas as at 31 March 2005. Figures are currently provisional.

2. Figures for non-FC woodland are based on data obtained from the 1995-1999 national inventory of woodland and trees and adjusted for new planting and sales of Forestry Commission woodland, but at present no adjustment is made for woodland converted to another land use. They include non-FC publicly

owned woodland.

3. Broadleaves include coppice and coppice with standards.

Table 2:

New planting 2004-05

The table below shows the area of new woodland that has been created in the year to 31 March 2005.

hectares

Notes:

1. Non-FC woodlands figures are based on areas for which grants were paid during the year, together with an estimate of areas planted without grant aid.

2. The planting season lies both sides of 31 March, and the weather can cause planting to be advanced or delayed.

3. Includes woodland formed by natural colonisation/regeneration.

4. Figures are currently provisional.

Table 3:

Restocking 2004-05

The table below shows the area of restocking that took place in the year to 31 March 2005.

hectares

Notes: as 1-4 above, and:

5. Restocking by natural regeneration in non-clearfell areas may be underrepresented in the above table.

The area of Forestry Commission woodland is obtained from the FC’s administrative systems. The estimates for non-FC woodlands are based on results from the 1995-1999 national inventory of woodland and trees and adjusted for new planting and sales of Forestry Commission woodland. At present, no adjustment is made for woodland converted to another land use.