Conifers for Colleges

Ian Gambles

DirectorForestry Commission England

Royal Forestry Society5th November 2014

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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

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All Woodland In England

1/3rd conifer

2/3rd broadleaf

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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

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Conifer woodland in England 6 species makes up 89% of the total

Lappet moth

Dothistroma DNB

Phytophthora ramorum

Spruce aphid

Drought

Conifers for Colleges6 18/04/236

Multiplying pests and diseases

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Climate change and silviculture

35

0

2

of 15

Current origins

Future origins?

Is what we are planting now adapted to known climate change?

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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beyond outdated perceptions – and creates places of beauty, biodiversity, recreational and direct production value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

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An alarming table

• New conifer planting (thousands of hectares):

England UK

2010 ? ?

2011 ? ?

2012 ? ?

2013 ? ?

2014 ? ?

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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

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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…

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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

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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%

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Research and information

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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

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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

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It’s not the trees – it’s the people