The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. It was formerly also responsible for Forestry in Wales and Scotland, however on 1 April 2013, Forestry Commission Wales merged with other agencies to become Natural Resources Wales, whilst two new bodies were established in Scotland on 1 April 2019.
Dunsinane Hill is a hill of the Sidlaws near the village of Collace in Perthshire, Scotland. It is mentioned in Shakespeare's play Macbeth, in which Macbeth is informed by a supernatural being, "Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him."
The Caledonian Forest is the ancient (old-growth) temperate rainforest of Scotland. The forest today is a reduced-extent version of the pre-human-settlement forest, existing in several dozen remnant areas.
Dunkeld is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to the geological Highland Boundary Fault, and is frequently described as the "Gateway to the Highlands" due to its position on the main road and rail lines north. Dunkeld has a railway station, Dunkeld & Birnam, on the Highland Main Line, and is about 25 kilometres north of Perth on what is now the A9 road. The main road formerly ran through the town, however following modernisation of this road it now passes to the west of Dunkeld.
The Fortingall Yew is an ancient European yew in the churchyard of the village of Fortingall in Perthshire, Scotland. It is known for being one of the oldest trees in Britain, with modern estimates of its age between 2,000 and 3,000 years.
Glenmore Forest Park is a remnant of the Caledonian Forest near Aviemore in the Badenoch and Strathspey district of Highland, Scotland. Owned and managed by Forestry and Land Scotland, it lies within the Cairngorms National Park, and is one of six forest parks in the country. The forest park, which was established in 1948, covers 35.7 km2, of which 21.1 km2 is designated as a national nature reserve (NNR). Glenmore surrounds Loch Morlich, and is below the rise of the Cairngorms to the south; to the north the park extends to the summit of Meall a' Bhuachaille. The forest forms part of an expanse of Caledonian Forest that stretches from Glen Feshie to Abernethy, and which as a whole forms the largest single area of this habitat remaining in Scotland. It is home to much wildlife including Scottish crossbills, crested tits, capercaillie, narrow-headed ants, red squirrels and red deer.
Glenachulish is a hamlet and glen which lie close to the village of Ballachulish in the Scottish Highlands.
St Serf's Inch or St Serf's Island is an island in Loch Leven, in south-eastern Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was the home of a Culdee and then an Augustinian monastic community, St Serf's Inch Priory.
Alice Holt Forest is a royal forest in Hampshire, situated some 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Farnham, Surrey. Once predominantly an ancient oak forest, it was particularly noted in the 18th and 19th centuries for the timber it supplied for the building of ships for the Royal Navy. It is now planted mainly with conifers. Forestry England took over the management of the forest in 1924, and a research station was set up in 1946 in the Alice Holt Lodge, a former manor house. The forest is now part of the South Downs National Park, which was established on 31 March 2010, and it forms the most northerly gateway to the park.
The Perth and Dunkeld Railway was a Scottish railway company. It was built from a junction with the Scottish Midland Junction Railway at Stanley, north of Perth, to a terminus at Birnam, on the south bank of the River Tay opposite Dunkeld.
Birnam is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is located 12 miles (19 km) north of Perth on the A9 road, the main tourist route through Perthshire, in an area of Scotland marketed as Big Tree Country. The village originated from the Victorian era with the coming of the railway in 1856, although the place and name is well known because William Shakespeare mentioned Birnam Wood in Macbeth:
MACBETH: I will not be afraid of death and bane, till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane.
The flora of Scotland is an assemblage of native plant species including over 1,600 vascular plants, more than 1,500 lichens and nearly 1,000 bryophytes. The total number of vascular species is low by world standards but lichens and bryophytes are abundant and the latter form a population of global importance. Various populations of rare fern exist, although the impact of 19th-century collectors threatened the existence of several species. The flora is generally typical of the north-west European part of the Palearctic realm and prominent features of the Scottish flora include boreal Caledonian forest, heather moorland and coastal machair. In addition to the native varieties of vascular plants there are numerous non-native introductions, now believed to make up some 43% of the species in the country.
The Sylva Foundation is an environmental organisation focusing on trees and forestry established in 2006, and registered as a charity in England and Wales in 2009 and with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in 2010. The organisation was co-founded by Sir Martin Wood and Dr Gabriel Hemery. Its office is at the Sylva Wood Centre in Long Wittenham in Oxfordshire, England.
Culbin Sands, Forest and Findhorn Bay is a huge area of coast and countryside and an SSSI in Moray, Scotland, stretching from just east of the town of Nairn eastwards to the village of Findhorn and its bay. All of the areas are very important for wildlife in general and are strongly protected by law. The Culbin Sands are known in Gaelic as Bar Inbhir Èireann.
The United Kingdom, being in the British Isles, is ideal for tree growth, thanks to its mild winters, plentiful rainfall, fertile soil and hill-sheltered topography. Growth rates for broadleaved (hardwood) trees exceed those of mainland Europe, while conifer (softwood) growth rates are three times those of Sweden and five times those of Finland. In the absence of people, much of Great Britain would be covered with mature oaks, except for Scotland. Although conditions for forestry are good, trees do face damage threats arising from fungi, parasites and pests. The development of afforestation and the production and supply of timber in Wales come under Natural Resources Wales, as set out in the Forestry Act 1967.
Scotland is ideal for tree growth, thanks to its mild winters, plentiful rainfall, fertile soil and hill-sheltered topography. As of 2019 about 18.5% of the country was wooded. Although this figure is well below the European Union (EU) average of 43%, it represents a significant increase compared to the figure of 100 years previously: in 1919 it was estimated that only 5% of the country's total land area was covered in forest. The Scottish Government's Draft Climate Change Plan has set an aim of increasing coverage to 21% of Scotland by 2032, with the rate of afforestation rising to 15,000 hectares per year by 2024.
The Pontfadog Oak was a sessile oak tree that stood on Cilcochwyn farm above the village of Pontfadog, in the Ceiriog Valley west of Chirk in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales, until it was blown over in the early hours of 18 April 2013. At the time it was reputed to be the oldest and largest oak tree in the United Kingdom.
Niel Gow's Oak is a 300-year-old tree near Dunkeld and Birnam, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is closely associated with the Scottish fiddler and composer Niel Gow, who lived in nearby Inver. Gow is said to have composed many of his most famous tunes whilst sitting beneath the oak. The connection is commemorated by a plaque and engraved bench. The tree has been entered into the Scottish and European Tree of the Year competitions. The tree was badly damaged by storms in 2011 and 2012.
Tay Forest Park is forest park in the council area of Perth and Kinross in Scotland. It consists of a network of forests managed by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) that are spread across the Highland parts of Perthshire, and covers 194 km2 in total. The park contains a series of disparate woods that are managed for multiple benefits, with an emphasis on recreation facilities for visitors.
Glen Nant is glen lying to the south of Taynuilt in the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. An area of woodland of 339 hectares on the western side of the River Nant is designated as national nature reserve (NNR), which is owned and managed by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS). It is an example of an Atlantic Oakwood, and is one of largest areas of upland oak woodland in north Argyll.
