Helen M. McKay OBE is Head of the Centre, Sustainable Forestry and Climate Change at Forest Research. In July 2020 she was appointed to the role of Chief Forester for Scotland by Scottish Forestry. [1]
McKay joined Forest Research as a plant physiologist in 1988 where she worked to improve the physiological quality of planting stock. In 2000 she was made specialist advisor for forest operations and the physical environment. Today she serves as Head of the Centre, Sustainable Forestry and Climate Change. [2] In 2016 McKay established the Forest Research Culture Working Group to improve forestry research culture. [2]
McKay is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and serves as one of the editors of the journal Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research . [3] She serves as a trustee of the Scottish Forestry Trust. [4] She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to forest science and forestry. [5] [6]
Her publications include:
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. The science of forestry has elements that belong to the biological, physical, social, political and managerial sciences. Forest management play essential role of creation and modification of habitats and affect ecosystem services provisioning.
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.
A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to provide a variety of objectives including direct extraction of raw material, outdoor recreation, conservation, hunting and aesthetics. Emerging management practices include managing forestlands for biodiversity, carbon sequestration and air quality.
Urban forestry is the care and management of single trees and tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment. Urban forestry involves both planning and management, including the programming of care and maintenance operations of the urban forest. Urban forestry advocates the role of trees as a critical part of the urban infrastructure. Urban foresters plant and maintain trees, support appropriate tree and forest preservation, conduct research and promote the many benefits trees provide. Urban forestry is practiced by municipal and commercial arborists, municipal and utility foresters, environmental policymakers, city planners, consultants, educators, researchers and community activists.
Yale School of the Environment (YSE) is a professional school of Yale University. It was founded to train foresters, and now trains environmental leaders through four 2-year degree programs and two 10-month mid-career programs. YSE strives to create new knowledge that will sustain and restore the health of the biosphere and emphasizes the possibility of creating a regenerative coexistence between humans and non-human life and the rest of the natural world. Still offering forestry instruction, the school has the oldest graduate forestry program in the United States.
Alison McClure McInnes is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. She was the Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Justice in the Scottish Parliament. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region 2007–2016, when she lost her seat at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. Whilst in Parliament, McInnes was a member of the Justice Committee and a substitute member of Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee of the Scottish Parliament.
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 Zambia Forestry College (ZFC) was established in 1949 to provide technical training in forestry. In the same year it produced the first forest guards.
Hugh Graham Miller, FICFor, was professor emeritus of forestry and former head of the Department of Forestry at the University of Aberdeen. In 1981 he was awarded the Scientific Achievement Award by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations.
The Farm Forestry Toolbox is a collection of computer programs, referred to as 'Tools', intended to be used by farm forest owners and managers to aid decision making. The Toolbox includes a set of simple 'Hand Tools'; conversion of measurements and map co-ordinates; measuring the volume of stacked logs, slope, basal area; and a survey tool. A second set of more complex tools or 'Power Tools'; can be used to estimate site productivity, volume and value of wood grown for individual trees, at the coupe or stand level and forest estate level.
Jean Balfour is a Scottish professional forester, landowner and conservationist.
Bettina Kay Ring is an American agricultural expert who served as Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry under Governor Ralph Northam from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as the Virginia State Forester under Governor Terry McAuliffe from 2014 to 2018.
Scottish Forestry is the public body responsible for forestry regulation, policy and support to private landowners in Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 2019, to take over some of the responsibilities of Forestry Commission Scotland, which was dissolved. Scottish Forestry exists alongside Forestry and Land Scotland, also established on 1 April 2019, which is responsible for managing and promoting the National Forest Estate.
This article gives an overview of the structure of environmental and cultural conservation in Scotland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom.
Shireen Grace ChambersFICFor is a British forester and the executive director of the Institute of Chartered Foresters. She is Chair of the Tree Aid Board of Trustees.
Afforestation efforts in Scotland have provided an increase in woodland expansion. By the 20th century mark, Scotland had diminished woodland coverage to 5% of Scotland's land area. However, by the early 21st century, afforestation efforts have increased woodland coverage to 17%. The Scottish government released their Draft Climate Change Plan in January 2017. The 2017 draft plan has increased the targeted woodland coverage to 21% by 2032 and increases the afforestation rate to 15,000 hectares per year.
Helen Mary Sang is the head of the Division of Developmental Biology at the Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh. Her research considers the development of chickens that cannot spread avian influenza. She has previously served on the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Elizabeth Ann Macgregor is a curator and art historian who was director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Sydney, Australia from 1999 until October 2021.
Kathryn Brown OBE is Director of Climate Action at The Wildlife Trusts.
James Macdonald, CBE, FRSE was a British civil servant and forester.