Forestry Journal:

This piece is an extract from our Latest from the Woods newsletter (previously Forestry Latest News), which is emailed out at 4PM every Friday with a round-up of the week's top stories. 

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IF there's one thing foresters love nearly as much as trees, it's a conference. 

Relatively fresh from December's (ill-fated) Woodland Creation Summit, it was the turn this week of the Forest Policy Group, with the ambition of determining a better future for the industry in Scotland. 

"We have four questions and zero answers," said the FPG's co-chair Alan McDonnell during his opening remarks at the Birnam Arts Centre, setting the tone nicely.

Throughout the day, there was a sense that this was not to be a revolution from the top down, with delegates instead encouraged to make themselves heard. And they did with some gusto. 

Forestry Journal: Cawdor Forestry's Hazel Cowan detailed how the estate had enjoyed success with natural regen Cawdor Forestry's Hazel Cowan detailed how the estate had enjoyed success with natural regen (Image: FJ/JM)

While several presentations were held – including from forester and former MSP Andy Wightman, who gave an abridged version of his report into forest ownership in Scotland – the real highlights came when the floor was opened up, and attendees shared their vision for the future of forestry north of the border (and a little more on that later). 

Other speakers challenged the status quo. Professor Ian Wall – who you may recognise from Confor's blacklist – took delegates through the Royal Society of Edinburgh's (RSE) recent report, which called for coniferous plantations to lose access to public cash. To say this had received a frosty reception in some forestry quarters would be putting it mildly, so all credit to Prof Wall for not shirking away from a room of foresters.

Forestry Journal: Professor Ian Wall's report has proved divisive in many forestry circles, but plenty of delegates agreed with is conclusions Professor Ian Wall's report has proved divisive in many forestry circles, but plenty of delegates agreed with is conclusions (Image: FJ/JM)

While it was, undoubtedly, the most contentious presentation of the day – and Prof Wall's indifference to the UK importing 81 per cent of its wood remains striking – there were many who lapped it up. I spoke to several delegates who were adamant the reliance on Sitka spruce had to go, while my colleague John McNee saw not one, but two attendees shake the academic's hand and thank him for the report. 

If anything, it proves the conventional wisdom that no two foresters will ever agree on the same thing (and perhaps the relatively warm reception for Prof Wall can be explained by the absence of any of the 'big boys' from the event). 

By the end of the day, much consensus had been reached on the wider issues, with several proposed actions now under consideration. This includes influencing Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) to lead the seachange and innovate on the public forest estate – the recently purchased Glenprosen was cited as a prime location where it could do just that – and increasing priority to be placed on thinning over clearfell. There was firm nodding of heads when one forester suggested continuous-cover forestry should be the norm. 

Forestry Journal: Delegates had plenty of opportunity to have their say Delegates had plenty of opportunity to have their say (Image: FJ/JH)

"We need to enact that change," Alan surmised in his closing remarks. "That change will come from us." 

But perhaps TreeStrory's Claire Wightman summed it up best when she told the room to "just go out and do it". 

Forestry Journal will have more extensive coverage from the conference in April's edition of the magazine, and across our online channels.