Scottish woodlands

About 17% of Scotland is now covered by woods, compared with less than 5% after the First World War. Most of these are managed plantations owned by the Forestry Commission, and the rest are natural or semi-natural woodlands. About 36% of Scotland's woodlands are publicly owned.

Plantations

Approximately 90% of all Scotland's woods are working timber plantations, mostly made up of conifers such as Sitka spruce, Scots pine and larch. Conifers (softwoods) account for some 82% of all Scotland's forest trees:

Find out more about Conifer plantations

Native woodlands

Native woodlands (i.e. woods dominated by native tree species) account for only 10% of all Scottish forests. However, their value for biodiversity conservation and recreation is increasingly recognised, and they also provide a wide range of NTFPs. Over 50,000ha of new native woodlands were planted in Scotland during the 1990s.

The hand of man

Almost all the woodlands of Scotland show signs of past human management. Even the seemingly unspoilt oakwoods of Argyll, with their twisted trunks and dense layers of lichen, were once intensively managed for the charcoal and tanbark industries.

Biodiversity in the woods

Scotland's woods provide valuable wildlife habitats, supporting rare species such as red squirrels, crossbills, beetles and orchids, as well as our more common woodland plants and animals.