There’s plenty of debate about the uplands these days – including issues of land ownership, raptor persecution, re-wilding, deer and grouse moor management, plantation forestry, renewables and peatland restoration. Much of this is about keeping the hills as they are, …
More houses in woods – what’s the problem?
Neil Sutherland, Makar Housing and Forest Policy Group This is the second of 2 blog postings on the subject of housing woodlands, making the case for more housing and rural businesses to be sited in woodland. Small office and house …
More houses in woods – why?
Neil Sutherland, Makar Housing and Forest Policy Group This is the first of 2 blog postings on the subject of housing in woodlands, making the case for more housing and rural businesses to be sited in woodland. Woodlands make great …
A bright future for hutting in Scotland?
Posted by Karen Grant, Reforesting Scotland and A Thousand Huts Campaign Last June’s inclusion of huts in the new Scottish Planning Policy amounted to just a few words. But one small step for planning policy is a giant leap for …
Opportunities for forestry in a time of constitutional change
Now that the dust has settled after the referendum it is clear that the wider outcomes are more far reaching than the actual vote – Scotland has been changed by the process. The appetite for constitutional change among a large …
Landscape Scale Forests
Posted by Rick Worrell I wonder why it has been so difficult over the years to convince forestry professionals that it is a good idea to have native woodlands at a scale that could be considered a native forest ? …
Forestry Commission Starter Farms? Why not Starter Woodlands?
Last week, Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) announced its latest “starter farm”, and the first one in the Highlands¹. The recent flurry of activity by FCS setting up starter farms on land newly acquired for forestry has enthused some people and …
Forestry for (and by and with) People
At school, you are taught to start an essay with something which will grab the reader’s attention. So here it is: forestry needs a new direction. To illustrate this, we have chosen a subject which is absolutely central to FPG’s …