This book tells the fascinating story of the policies and projects that resulted in doubling the size of British forests over the past eighty years and of the Acts and actors that played a role in this development. By the end of the century the area of forests in the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland) had risen to over two and three quarter million hectares and covered eleven per cent of the land area. Three quarters of them consisted of plantations. Few other countries - Ireland and Denmark are two - have achieved a comparable change in the rural landscape in favour of forestry over as short a time. Furthermore, from being in a deplorable state by the end of the First World War, British forests are now well above the European average in terms of productivity (wood yield per hectare). At the same time they are being called upon to meet increasingly heavy social and environmental demands from a dense, largely urbanised society.

British woodlands and forests are often located on sites and in regions that are marginal for agriculture; many are at high elevations and exposed, with short growing seasons. Wherever forests are located, site and climatic conditions must dictate species choice in forest management. This book provides a detailed guide to the biological suitability of different sites and soils for all important native trees and the most extensively used exotics. Apart from physical difficulties such as steepness and stoniness, forest soils also frequently have problems associated with them. They can be waterlogged or drought-prone, suffer from extremes of acidity or alkalinity, or have compacted layers. The book provides information on species' suitability for different purposes. It includes details of species' origin and introduction (where applicable), as well as their climatic and soil requirements and other silvicultural characteristics. Information about provenance, yield and timber is also provided. Fully updated throughout, this 3rd edition puts more emphasis on species suitable for changing climatic conditions, with accounts of several species that may become more prominent in British forests: including several silver firs, hickories, eucalypts, spruces, poplars and wingnuts. The book concludes with simple keys for identifying the trees most likely to be encountered in British forests. It is an essential resource for students, researchers and forestry professionals.

Northern Europe was, by many accounts, the birthplace of much of modern forestry practice, and for hundreds of years the region’s woodlands have played an outsize role in international relations, economic growth, and the development of national identity. Across eleven chapters, the contributors to this volume survey the histories of state forestry policy in Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Germany, Poland, and Great Britain from the early modern period to the present. Each explores the complex interrelationships of state-building, resource management, knowledge transfer, and trade over a period characterized by ongoing modernization and evolving environmental awareness.

Introduction to Forestry and Natural Resources, Second Edition, presents a broad, completely updated overview of the profession of forestry. The book details several key fields within forestry, including forest management, economics, policy, utilization and forestry careers. Chapters deal specifically with forest regions of the world, landowners, forest products, wildlife habitats, tree anatomy and physiology, and forest disturbances and health. These topics are ideal for undergraduate introductory courses and include numerous examples and questions for students to ponder. There is also a section dedicated to forestry careers. Unlike other introductory forestry texts, which focus largely on forest ecology rather than practical forestry concepts, this book encompasses the economic, ecological and social aspects, thus providing a uniquely balanced text. The wide range of experience of the contributing authors equips them especially well to identify missing content from other texts in the area and address topics currently covered in corresponding college courses. - Covers the application of forestry and natural resources around the world with a focus on practical applications and graphical examples - Describes basic techniques for measuring and evaluating forest resources and natural resources, including fundamental terminology and concepts - Includes management policies and their influence at the local, national and international levels

The `Global Biodiversity Strategy' signed in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, and the resolutions at the Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe in Strasbourg, 1990, and Helsinki, 1993, commit the signatory states to monitor nationally the state of biodiversity and to sustain the characteristic natural variation in the country. Sustainability and long-term planning are the two terms best describing the philosophy of traditional forest management practices. However, the traditional planning techniques are not primarily developed to maintain sustainability of biodiversity. The gap between the international commitments and the practices in forest assessment and management is obvious. This publication presents experience in methodology for assessing and monitoring the variation of ecosystems and habitats in relation to biodiversity conservation and for integrating biodiversity in regional planning of forest management and land use. The state of the art in the field of natural resource assessments with special reference to forest biodiversity is reviewed, progress in integrating data on biodiversity in forest management planning is presented and the information needs regarding biodiversity conservation and the question to what degree assessment methods for forest biodiversity can be simplified for practical applications are discussed. The book is intended for researchers and practitioners in the field of forest and environmental planning and environmental policies.

Forestry has been witness to some dramatic changes in recent years, with several Western countries now moving away from the traditional model of regarding forests merely as sources of wood. Rather these countries are increasingly recognizing their forests as multi-purpose resources with roles which go far beyond simple economics. In this innovative book, Sylvie Nail uses England as a case study to explore the relationships between forests, society and public perceptions, raising important questions about forest policy and management both now and in the future. Adopting a sociological approach to forest policy and management, the book discusses the current validity of the two principles underlying forestry since the Middle Ages: first, that forestry should only exist when no better use of the land can be made, and second, that forestry itself should be profitable. The author stresses how values and perceptions shape policies, and conversely how policies can modify perceptions, and also how policies can fail if they do not take perceptions into account. She concludes that many of the issues facing English forestry in the 21st century – from leisure, health and amenity provision, through education and rural as well as urban regeneration, to biodiversity conservation – go well beyond both national borders and the scope of forestry. Indeed forestry in the 21st century seems to be less about planting and managing trees than about being a vector and a mirror of social change. This novel synthesis provides a valuable resource for advanced students and researchers from all areas of natural resource studies, including those interested in social history, socio-economics, cultural geography and environmental psychology, as well as those studying landscape ecology, environmental history, policy analysis and natural resource management.