The majority of forests & timber plantations in Scotland, be they publicly or privately owned are managed under Scottish Forestry’s system of approved Long-term Forest Plans.
Forest Plans cover a +20yr period and are formally and publicly reviewed every 10yrs. During this process the areas to be harvested (felled and/or thinned) are identified and the areas to be replanting (species and stocking regime) also agreed upon and shared with statutory stakeholders (Community Council, Local Authority, Nature Scot, Historic Scotland, SEPA) as well as the immediate neighbours and other such as relevant NGOs like RSPB and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.
The aim of this scoping process is for information to be gathered relating to both potential opportunities and potential issues so that they can be identified and considered in the final version of the Forest Plan which is submitted for Scottish Forestry’s approval.
In addition an approved Forest Plan also allows access to potential grant funding to contribute towards a range of activities such as:
- provision/maintenance of footpaths
- better connecting native woodland
- managed woodland grazing to improve habitats
- management of designated sites
- Grey Squirrel control
- Continuous Cover Silviculture.
The final Forest Plan also needs to comply with the UK Forestry Standard which is the ‘rulebook’ for sustainable forest management across the UK (https://forestry.gov.scot/sustainable-forestry/ukfs-Scotland)
We have put together a short presentation which can be found in the News Section of the Moray Estates website https://www.morayestates.co.uk/news/. This describes the current woodland and the woodland management activities that we undertake. The maps towards the end of the presentation show what we propose to fell and replanting during the 20yrs period of the Forest Plan.
If you would like to comment on the forest plans and add information that may help us identify opportunities or constraints please email: stuart.farrant@morayestates.co.uk
We are looking to complete the public scoping process by Friday 11th November 2022.
The Estate Staff will be joining the Kilmadock Community Plan workshop in the Rural Hall on Thursday 10th November between 7:30pm and 9pm – feel free to come along and ask us questions.