Sir Dietrich Brandis was a German-British botanist and forestry academic and administrator, who worked with the British Imperial Forestry Service in colonial India for nearly 30 years. He joined the British civil service in Burma in 1856, shortly afterwards became head of the British forestry administration in all of Burma, and served as Inspector General of Forests in India from 1864 to 1883. He returned to Europe in 1883, dividing his time between Bonn and Greater London. In retirement he dedicated himself to scholarly work, resulting in his monumental book Indian Trees (1906). Brandis is considered the father of tropical forestry and has also been described as the father of scientific forestry. In addition to his work in India, he also had a significant influence on forest management in the United States.
Natural history of Scotland concerns the flora, fauna and mycota of Scotland.
Galloway Forest Park is a forest park operated by Forestry and Land Scotland, principally covering woodland in Dumfries and Galloway. It is claimed to be the largest forest in the UK. The park was granted Dark Sky Park status in November 2009, being the first area in the UK to be so designated.
The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) is an educational charity and one of the oldest membership organisations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for those actively involved in woodland management. HM The Queen is the patron.
Alexander Gibson (1800–1867) was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who worked in India.
Hugh Francis Clarke Cleghorn of Stravithie MD, LLD, FRSE, FLS was a Madras-born Scottish physician, botanist, forester and land owner. Sometimes known as the father of scientific forestry in India, he was the first Conservator of Forests for the Madras Presidency, and twice acted as Inspector General of Forests for India. After a career spent in India Cleghorn returned to Scotland in 1868, where he was involved in the first ever International Forestry Exhibition, advised the India Office on the training of forest officers, and contributed to the establishment of lectureships in botany at the University of St Andrews and in forestry at the University of Edinburgh. The plant genus Cleghornia was named after him by Robert Wight.
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 standard 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 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.
Sir Hugh Cleghorn FRSE LLD (1751-1836) was the first colonial secretary to Ceylon. He was key in the takeover of Ceylon from Dutch control to the British Empire. In 1795 Cleghorn used his friendship with Comte Charles-Daniel de Meuron, who owned a regiment of Swiss mercenaries, the Regiment de Meuron, that controlled Ceylon for the Dutch, to transfer control to the English. His grandson Hugh Francis Clarke Cleghorn was instrumental in the foundation of the forest department and forest conservation in India.
Cleghornia is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae; its various species are distributed in Borneo, China, Laos, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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.
John Croumbie Brown was a prolific author, minister of religion, forestry pioneer in South Africa as well as soil conservationist and hydrologist. He was the grandson of John Brown (1722-1787), the renowned Scottish theologian and author.
The Woodland Trust is leading 70 organizations in the call for a Charter for Trees, Woods and People.
Puck's Glen is a river-formed ravine on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, with a popular scenic walking trail beside the Eas Mòr stream. In 2020 the glen and adjoining trails were closed temporarily due to COVID-19 restrictions, issues of stability of the gorge, and felling of trees infected by larch disease.
John Ednie Brown, (1848–1899) J.P., F.L.S., was an author on sylviculture and state conservator of forests.
Andrew Watt FRSE (1869–1929) was a 19th/20th-century Scottish meteorologist.
Ted Green MBE is a British academic, scientist, campaigner and arboriculturist. He has been working in a career bridging forestry and conservation for over 50 years, founding the Ancient Tree Forum in 1993. He is described as "Britain's foremost ancient tree expert". He won the Royal Forestry Society's (RFS) Gold Medal for Distinguished Services to Forestry in 2017.
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.
Lt. Col. Frederick Bailey FRSE FRSGS was a British Army officer serving in the Royal Engineers who headed the Indian Forestry Service for the cultivation and export of timber to the British Empire.
