Conifers for Colleges

1. Conifers for Colleges Ian Gambles Director Forestry Commission England Royal Forestry Society 5th November 2014

2. What I am going to cover • The conifer challenge… • Pests and diseases • Climate change • Anti-conifer sentiment • Loss of silvicultural skills • … and what we can all do about it Conifers for Colleges

3. All Woodland In England 1/3rd conifer 2/3rd broadleaf Conifers for Colleges

4. Broadleaf woodland in England 5 species make up 77% of the total Phytophthora alni Acute Oak Decline Oak processionary moth Chestnut Blight Grey Squirrel Deer Drought Chalara Conifers for Colleges

5. Conifer woodland in England 6 species makes up 89% of the total Lappet moth Dothistroma DNB Phytophthora ramorum Spruce aphid Drought Conifers for Colleges

6. Multiplying pests and diseases 6 05/01/2020 Conifers for Colleges

7. Climate change and silviculture Current origins 0 Future origins? 2 3 5 Is what we are planting now adapted to known climate change? of 15 Conifers for Colleges

8. Anti-conifer sentiment • Right to protect and restore ancient woodland • Understandable that the mistakes of a previous generation are not forgotten • BUT • Contemporary certified afforestation is far beyond outdated perceptions – and creates places of beauty, biodiversity, recreational and direct production value • English timber production and processing contributes £2.1 billion GVA • With rising pressure on land use and land values, uneconomic woodland is at long-term risk Conifers for Colleges

9. New conifer planting (thousands of hectares): An alarming table Conifers for Colleges

10. New conifer planting (thousands of hectares): An alarming table Conifers for Colleges

11. The skills challenge • “Rediscovery” of silviculture relies entirely on skilled foresters to carry it through – but the workforce is ageing • Secondary education – English woodland culture missing from the curriculum; focus only on global deforestation issues • Further and higher education – loss of institutions and courses, drift from forestry to broader environmental disciplines • But together we can tackle this… Conifers for Colleges

12. Tackling pests and diseases • A top ministerial priority: • Continuing control action and surveying to limit spread of phytophthora ramorum • Forest Research programmes working on dothistroma, pine tree lappet moth etc • More investment in import controls – significant interceptions recently • Systems improvement – plant health risk register, increasing sector and stakeholder understanding and co-operation Conifers for Colleges

13. Planting for the future on the PFE Previous planting Current planting 2010-11: “Big 6” – 88% Alternative conifers: 2% Broadleaves: 10% 2013-14: “Big 4” – 68% Alternative conifers: 17% Broadleaves: 15% Conifers for Colleges

14. Research and information Conifers for Colleges

15. Supporting conifers • What the Commission is doing: • Public Forest Estate supplies 58% of English softwood. We planted 4.5 million conifers last season. • Forest Research programmes working on timber quality for alternative species – and our improved Sitka yields +25% • Woodland creation grants will continue to support conifer planting • Above all – supporting the sector’s own initiatives: Grown in Britain, Roots to Prosperity, Woodland Carbon Code etc Conifers for Colleges

16. Skills – lots of good news • Apprenticeships on the rise: • Forestry Trailblazer announced this week • Forestry Skills Initiative • FC apprenticeships • Working with schools • Forests for the Future – KS2 • RFS Teaching Trees • Herefordshire Hub • HE & FE – on the way back? • Reading, Birmingham, ICF, RFS… • …and Conifers for Colleges Conifers for Colleges

17. It’s not the trees – it’s the people Conifers for Colleges