British hardwoods have a bright future, but forests need to be better managed, forestry consultant Graham Taylor said this week.
Speaking at the London Hardwood Club meeting on Thursday, Mr Taylor said hardwoods had a role to play, especially in the low carbon world, but he was disparaging about the Forestry Commission’s management of Britain’s forests.
“The Forestry Commission’s (FC) management is poor but they are good at systems because they’re bureaucrats,” he said. “Forestry policy has been set by the FC for 100 years. Once you are a government body you write policy to survive; it has nothing to do with forest management.”
The “twists and turns” of UK forestry over the years had not helped and Mr Taylor pointed to the focus and success of the French hardwood industry.
“The French know how to grow oak; they’ve stuck to their guns for 750 years. We’re rubbish; we are useless compared to competitor nations,” he said.
Britain has 971,000ha of hardwoods and timber production has fallen from 910,00m³ in 1980 to 73,000m³ in 2009.
Bureaucracy, regulatory processes and grants schemes did not encourage small forest owners to manage their land, said Mr Taylor. The industry was stymied by a lack of contractors, growers not wanting to disturb the aesthetics of the landscape and “multiple levels of irrelevant consultation with uninformed stakeholders”.
There were also few outlets for what was inevitably low grade timber. “So why fell when you won’t get much for it?” he said.
However, Mr Taylor said low grade woods could make money and could have a role in providing energy as the price of oil continues to rise.
“We will have a major energy crisis within half a rotation [of timber]. Historically woods have kept people warm [through firewood] and I think we will revert to that,” he said.
Better silviculture would also improve the quality of hardwoods and softwoods. “If you grow quality, you will sell,” said Mr Taylor.
He added that productive woodlands were also needed “because they’re great for soaking up carbon”.
