Forestry Matters Summer 2020

Forestry ISSUE 3 SUmmEr 2020

MATTERS

The sky’s the limit for tomorrow’s wooden buildings

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Getting closer to nature with CCF Success for self-taught foresters Waterside woodland in need of restoration

WELCOME

CONTENTS

Growth spurt The last ten years has seen the strength and resilience of the forestry sector grow.

From the grower’s perspective, average standing timber prices almost doubled. Some products, such as biomass, have seen very strong growth with more variation in the sawlog markets, albeit with an overall strong upward trend. We saw heady peaks in prices at the beginning of 2019 followed by a period of correction, and as we entered 2020 prices remained at very respectable levels when looking back over the decade.

For the investor, the forest property market has also strengthened. It has been interesting to see a number of commercial plantations come to the market multiple times over the decade; some with areas felled and restocked, others returning as previously sold but at prices significantly up on the previous sale. The amenity market has developed equally with strong demand for well-located smaller properties of all types.

Enthusiasm for new planting – either productive conifer, native pinewoods or broadleaf – principally in Scotland, has surged.

This follows the Scottish Government’s realisation of the value the sector contributes to the Scottish economy and against climate change. Across the UK the contribution of trees and woodland to carbon sequestration has been much debated. The value of this sequestered carbon to climate change mitigation is well understood. The value of the same carbon in economic terms is beginning to be understood; it has been hugely undervalued to date.

I hope you enjoy reading about the diverse work our forestry team is engaged in, along with some of the businesses we work with.

Athole McKillop Head of Forestry

GALBRAITH is a leading independent property consultancy. Drawing on a century of experience in land and property management, the firm is progressive and dynamic, employing 240 people in offices across Scotland and northern England.

4 Scottish woodlands are increasingly attracting carbon offset investment.

6 The carbon credit tax tangle.

Getting closer to nature with continuous cover forestry.

8 COVER STORY: The new generation of timber buildings.

10 The value of restoring neglected woodland in upper river catchment areas.

12 Scottish forests are under attack from a range of bugs: how to spot them and what to do.

14 Forest resilience: what does it really mean?

An unexpected find...

16 The benefits of brash removal.

A father-and-son log business.

18 Specialist woodland insurance explained.

Making the most of a small broadleaved wood.

20 A head start for young trees.

More than just firewood: Scottish-grown hardwood.

22 A career with Galbraith.

A key role for contractors.

We provide a full range of property consulting services across the commercial, residential, rural and energy sectors.

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TO The south of Kirkhill, Invernessshire, is a small 40-hectare woodland, owned and managed by David Shepard and Annie Griffiths, who over the past three decades have converted the site from a conifer plantation to a productive native broadleaved woodland.

Their objective since buying the Craggach Woods has been to develop a biologically and structurally diverse woodland while also producing high yield and quality timber.

Inspired by the presence of ancient woodland indicator species, they bought an eight-hectare block of commercial mixed conifers close to their house with the intention of replacing them with native broadleaves. This area was clear-felled and converted using a mix of species, mainly oak, birch, alder and gean, all planted in a sympathetic pattern.

After their initial success, they decided to buy the rest of Craggach Woods in 2005. This new area, considerably larger at around 30 hectares, was given the same treatment, clear-felling most of the non-native coniferous species and restocking with native broadleaves with fences erected around these areas to prevent deer browsing.

David says they are “self-taught foresters”, and since they bought the woodland he and Annie have gone on a journey of silvicultural self-education.

They looked to European management techniques and practices for inspiration and decided to adopt guidance from a recently translated French book which promotes a single tree/free growth selection process.

This allows for the maximum yield class to be achieved, while also enabling a Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) system to be employed throughout the woodland.

Using small-scale farm machinery has allowed them to conduct low-impact forestry, avoiding disturbance to ground flora, soil compaction and pollution of watercourses. This is in line with their aim of carrying out lowimpact silvicultural systems (LISS).

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A labour of love has become an award-winning and productive broadleaved woodland. Jacob Dean reports from Craggach Woods in Inverness-shire.

Forestry matters is produced by Galbraith, and designed by George Gray Media & Design, Saint-Andeux, France. © CKD Galbraith LLP.

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In recent years this strategy has culminated in employing a local horse logger to extract coniferous timber during the thinning process. Selling firewood to local homeowners from the thinning operations has generated a steady income which has in turn enabled David and Annie to carry out other operations in their woodland.

Self-taught foresters with a low-impact approach David and Annie’s efforts to create an outstanding native woodland have received national recognition, and last year they won the Hunter Blair Trophy for Silvicultural Excellence from Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards.

They have built their own small-scale sawmill, and by milling and kiln-drying the wood themselves, they are able to take full advantage of the timber they produce and supply a valuable product to local furniture makers. This idea of local wood for local jobs is becoming more popular in rural communities.

Above: David Shepard operates the alpine tractor and timber trailer at Craggach.

Left: Annie Griffiths thinning birch.

David and Annie’s approach to managing productive broadleaves has allowed them to make a living when others had told them it could not be done.

They hope their woodland will be able to support the equivalent of one fulltime job for those who inherit it. This would allow for someone to live and work on-site with a high degree of self-reliance and sustainability.

jacob.dean@galbraithgroup.com 01463 245690

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The woodland way to earn carbon credits

As pressure mounts for long-term solutions to climate change, companies are choosing Scottish woodland to offset their emissions.

Paul Schofield reports.

In July last year, Mohammed Barkindo, the Secretary-General of OPeC, declared that Greta Thunberg and other young campaigners were the "greatest threat" to the fossil fuel industry.

Such is the impact of the teen climate activist, whose media presence is credited with raising global public awareness about climate change and its potential effects. She joins others influencing the climate debate, such as Extinction rebellion, David Attenborough, the rise of flygskam – flight shame – and Government zeroemissions targets.

In January, the mcKinsey consultancy warned financial markets could face upheaval if the risks of climate change are not taken seriously. By 2030, an estimated 105 countries representing 90% of global GDP are likely to suffer extreme physical changes including increased drought, flooding and rising temperatures with potentially serious economic consequences (Financial Times, January 16, 2020).

One tangible effect of this growing awareness has been a sharp increase in individuals and businesses of all sizes offsetting carbon emissions, usually by investing in carbon reducing

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projects in developing countries, from improving domestic cooking facilities to tree planting. many airlines, including British Airways and EasyJet, have started offering voluntary carbon offsetting to their passengers while Shell allows customers the opportunity to “drive carbon neutral” with carbon credits from conservation projects in Peru, Indonesia, the USA and the UK. Climate Care, a firm that provides programmes enabling large organisations to offset residual carbon emissions, has reportedly seen the amount of carbon offset increase from 2 million to 20 million tonnes over the past 18 months.

Firms are under increasing pressure from both consumers and shareholders to take responsibility not only for their direct emissions but also for what are called Scope 3 emissions – those produced as a consequence of the products or services they provide, including emissions resulting from goods and services delivered through an outside supplier.

However, a major benefit of offsetting in the UK is that projects are designed in accordance with strict environmental standards and monitored by

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One of the most efficient ways to use land for long-term carbon capture is to plant trees.

zero carbon journey we are looking at developing a clear, robust and transparent carbon offset strategy to help us remove the remaining balance of Scope 3 emissions we cannot manage out of our business activities. In doing this we want to ensure that we are supporting projects and initiatives which deliver tangible carbon and social benefits across the UK.” In the UK, the Woodland Carbon Code (WCC) – administered by the Scottish Government agency Scottish Forestry – sets out the design and management requirements for voluntary carbon sequestration, allowing tree planting projects to be registered and independently verified.

Verified woodland carbon units are one type of ‘credit’ that an organisation can use to voluntarily offset emissions associated with its activities, products, services and buildings under current UK government guidance on demonstrating carbon neutrality. However, these units cannot be used in international carbon reduction mechanisms, such as the EU Emissions Trading System (WCC, 2018). Other standards for quantifying carbon sequestration projects include the verified carbon standard developed by the Climate Group and International Emissions Trading Association.

Using the WCC woodland carbon calculator, native woodland is more carbon efficient than productive conifers. This is because a “clear-fell cap” is applied to reflect the long-term average carbon stock over several whole rotations where a woodland is repeatedly clear-felled and restocked with consequent peaks and troughs in carbon storage. Emissions from forestry operations are also taken into account.

The carbon credits tax tangle Page 6

Scottish Forestry and Forestry England, and any concerned investors need not travel far to review offsetting projects. rather than investing purely in overseas projects, several Galbraith clients are looking at how their landholdings in Scotland can help offset Scope 3 emissions in the future. One of the most efficient ways to use land for long-term carbon capture is to plant trees. This is recognised by the Scottish Government whose ambitious climate change mitigation strategy involves increasing woodland cover by 180,000 hectares by 2032.

Although woodland ownership may be unfamiliar territory to some firms, woodlands can provide a valuable asset for businesses looking to offset their carbon emissions, creating a new driver other than traditional forestry investment. With shareholders focusing increasingly on environmental performance almost as much as financial returns, demonstrating a real and verifiable commitment to the environment is becoming a priority.

John Davies, head of sustainability at Derwent London, the property development and investment group, explains: “As part of our net

Although the market for WCC carbon units is still developing, this model has in principle created a new incentive for native woodland and rewilding projects, making previously unproductive woodlands financially productive simply by trees absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and growing bigger as a result.

Native woodlands have an additional reputational benefit for some firms as they provide the opportunity to convey a wider story about issues such as biodiversity and public engagement.

Although funding for woodland creation has not been confirmed beyond the Forestry Grant Scheme deadline of December 31, 2020, it seems likely funding will be found, given the considerable political support for planting trees to mitigate climate change. This will provide the incentive needed to maintain the current level of interest in planting new woodlands of all types. It remains to be seen whether carbon sequestration will become a significant new driver for tree planting in the future.

paul.schofield@galbraithgroup.com 01738 456064

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Carbon credits: a tangle of taxing questions There are no specific rules for how carbon credit should be taxed, so the situation is complex.

Margi Campbell cuts through the undergrowth.

CARBOn credits are now being regularly traded, and a common query is how these should be taxed.

There is currently no specific guidance from HmrC on this matter, so the advice below uses general principles of taxation, which we would expect HmrC to follow.

Is it income or capital?

Where an asset is only sold once, and is thereafter never again available for the original owner, it is likely to be a capital disposal, and subject to capital gains tax (CGT).

Standing timber is exempt from CGT and so where there is a sale of trees whose value is inflated due to the available carbon credit thereon, that will fall to be part of the tree value, and therefore also be exempt. Conversely, when the unit is sold without any underlying tree, then the value traded is subject to CGT. If the credit is not a single sale, but a regular income stream, then this is not generally a disposal of the right, but rather an exploitation of this for profit, and thus subject to income tax rules.

If it is income, how is it taxed?

Income may be taxed under many parts of the tax code. The detail will depend on whether this is deemed farming, commercial land management, woodland or simply a by-product of holding land.

If the income received is to compensate for a lack of farming income or a change in farming behaviour this could be argued to be farming profit. Compensation for a lack of farming income will include schemes where the grant is to prevent land being used for farming practices, which is what the old Farm Woodland Premium Scheme was designed to do. This compensated farmers for loss of profits and was deemed taxable for the farmer who had ceased certain activities, even although it was related to forestry.

The same principles are likely to apply to any new grant or incentive schemes, including carbon credits unless specific guidance overrules this, such

as the Woodland Carbon Code, as noted below.

However, even here, care is required. If the woodland is subsequently sold on, then the new owner had not ceased any activity, and obtains the credit due to the fact he holds woodland, and therefore such income should be treated as woodland income in their hands, and therefore exempt from income tax (IT), having previously been farming income, and therefore taxable.

If the regular receipt of income is linked to the commercial management of woodland then it could be exempt. This includes payments under the Woodland Carbon Code which guarantees the price of units being sold to the government every five or 10 years, and is specifically noted by the government to be tax free as related to woodland management.

If income is linked to commercial management of land with a view to a profit, it will form part of the taxable profits from that trade.

This may include peatland management schemes where the management of the land is commercial and profitable.

Otherwise, any regular income from a land based carbon credit will be property income, and subject to IT but not to national insurance contributions.

Care is also required to establish whether there is a supply of goods and services, which will fall within the VAT rules, or whether there is only a promise to make something good in the future, in which case there is likely to be no VAT point.

This will impact on both the VAT on the sale of the units, and the ability to obtain relief for any input VAT. Carbon credits are complicated for tax purposes, and with the current taxation differences between woodland at nil, CGT at 20%, or IT at 46% in Scotland, the cost of getting the structure wrong can be significant. Early advice is highly recommended.

Margi Campbell is a director of Saffery Champness, Inverness.

01463 246300 www.saffery.com

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Getting Willie Beattie looks at the pros and cons of continuous cover forestry.

COnTInuOuS cover forestry (CCF) is based on the principle of using ‘close to nature’ methods of forestry.

Ideally, this means thinning woodlands and/or very small felling sites and encouraging natural regeneration to secure the next generation of trees. These methods are commonly used on the continent and we are witnessing it becoming increasingly popular here in Scotland.

The silvicultural benefits of CCF are well documented. It naturally encourages diversification of species and ages within a woodland which increases its resilience to climate change, pests and diseases. The small scale of the interventions also protects the soils and reduces the impact of operations on local communities and wildlife. CCF management can also produce very high quality timber as it is usually grown on a longer rotation than standard commercial rotations.

The economic benefits of CCF management are less clearly understood however. The increase in the quality of timber is hard to quantify and is offset to some extent by the increase in the rotation length. There are clear cost savings in terms of not having to carry out restocking but there are also higher costs in terms of increased deer control; possible cleaning or noncommercial thinnings of young crops; and

closer to nature increased road infrastructure requirements. In practice, adopting CCF is a completely different management strategy which results in a totally different pattern of income and expenditure.

As more estates have been applying CCF principles over a good number of years, we are starting to build a better understanding of the long term financial model of CCF management.

The traditional clear fell and restock methods produce high peaks of income when clear felling is carried out followed within five years followed by high peaks of expenditure as restocking is carried out. In contrast CCF management tends to produce a more continual flow of income.

The income from interventions is generally smaller but more frequent and the expenditure is also more consistent.

We have found that CCF management can be a very good fit for estates looking to create a longer term low-level income stream from their woodlands.

There are a number of barriers to making CCF a realistic option for management: 1. There needs to be sufficient scale of woodland to ensure that thinning can be carried out regularly without overcutting the woodland i.e. it needs to be sustainable.

timber so that good prices can be achieved for mature crops.

4. Woodlands must be stable enough so that thinning is not going to cause significant wind blow – generally this means slightly sheltered woodlands and avoiding woodlands on waterlogged soils.

5. The sites should not be too fertile. Highly fertile sites are more difficult to manage for natural regeneration as the weed completion is more intense.

6. The deer pressure also needs to be low enough so that seedlings can mature to pole stage trees without significant damage. Advanced regeneration (i.e. the young trees already regenerating on a site) are the best indication that this is feasible.

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CCF management can be a very good fit for estates looking to create a longer term low-level income stream.

CCF management continues to grow in popularity in Scotland. Although it is not suitable everywhere, as more and more foresters have experimented with it, it seems to be appropriate in more situations than initially thought. Estate owners in particular might be attracted to the idea of a long term income from forestry rather than the highs and lows of clear felling.

CCF management is certainly an option that should be considered by all woodland owners.

2. There needs to be sufficient access, or initial capital to improve access, such that timber lorries can frequently access all parts of the woodland.

3. Ideally there should at least be some woodland which has the potential to produce high quality

willie.beattie@galbraithgroup.com 01463 245388

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Reaching for the sky: the new generation of timber buildings Buildings have been made from wood for thousands of years, but new ways of using the material are giving it a new lease of life.

Paul Schofield reports.

COnCReTe and steel are an integral part of the built environment but are responsible for an estimated 13% of global carbon emissions.

As concern grows about climate change and the need for greater sustainability, interest in wood as a climate-friendly alternative has increased.

This interest has further accelerated with the development of cross-laminated timber (CLT), which has rapidly gained popularity as a construction material over the past few years and is now being used all over the world in ever taller and more complex wooden buildings.

CLT was first developed and used in Austria and Germany in the early 1990s. It is a group of engineered wood products comprising sheets, panels, posts and beams made by gluing layers of solid sawn timber together alternately at rightangles. The physical properties of wood change depending on the direction of the force applied.

Gluing layers at right angles therefore achieves rigidity in both directions, improving structural integrity and dimensional stability.

Kiln dried timber is used with a low

enough moisture content to eliminate the risk of pest or fungal attack. When manufactured from suitably cut, dried, machined and graded timber, the structural capabilities of CLT are comparable to concrete and it can be used for all elements of a building’s superstructure including walls, floor and roof.

Austria published the first national guidelines for using CLT in 2002 which made possible its wider acceptance as a material in multi-storey buildings.

Because of its favourable structural properties, ease of prefabrication and comparative lightness compared to concrete and steel, CLT is now being used more widely in the design of mid and high-rise buildings and there are now many examples of large wooden structures in the UK, Europe, USA and further afield.

This rising interest has led to an increase in factories producing CLT. Until recently, most CLT was made in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia but within the past five years factories have opened in Japan, France, Latvia, Australia, USA and Canada. Despite the involvement of many UK firms as leading innovators in its use, there is currently no largescale producer of CLT in the UK. CLT panels are usually constructed from spruce, although it can be manufactured from larch, Douglas fir, pine and other timbers. While higher strength grade timber is typically used by European manufacturers, trials by Napier University and industry partners have established that the lower grades of structural timber grown in UK forests are also suitable for CLT production if correctly graded.

The tallest timber building in the world is Mjøstårnet in Brumunddal, Norway, seen here nearing completion.

Picture: Øyvind Holmstad.

However, there are technical challenges surrounding the viability of CLT from UK material compared to CLT from European timber, principally the number of rejections from defects caused by kiln drying to a significantly lower moisture content, typically 12% instead of the usual 20% for other sawn timber. The significant additional costs associated with CLT production and easy accessibility of high quality European products are disincentives to establishing large scale manufacturing facilities in the UK. Although still in its infancy as a viable construction material in high-rises, the development and uptake of CLT has been rapid and there are already numerous examples showcasing its considerable potential.

Dalston Lane residential development in Hackney, east London is a pioneering CLT project completed in early 2017. Although only 33 metres high, it is the largest contiguous load-bearing timber building in the world with 4,649 cubic metres of CLT and only seven tonnes of steel

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beams used throughout. The completed building achieved a net carbon footprint of –2,600 tCO2e, compared to +2,000 tCO2e for an equivalent development using concrete.

The 8,000 tonne difference in weight between CLT and concrete allowed another three storeys to be added.

The 10-storey 25 King office block in Brisbane was completed in 2018 and is Australia's largest all-timber building at 52 metres high. Compared to using conventional materials, environmental benefits included a 74% reduction in embodied carbon (carbon dioxide emitted during the manufacture, transport and construction of building materials). The 20% weight saving allowed more area to be allocated as functional space and construction time was significantly reduced by off-site prefabrication.

The tallest timber building in the world is mjøstårnet in Brumunddal, Norway at 85.4 metres, an 18-storey mixed-use building completed in march 2019.

A LONG HISTORY OF BUILDING WITH WOOD WOOD has been used as a primary building material in the British Isles since Neolithic times, when communal longhouses accommodating 30 people were among the largest structures in the world.

As technology progressed with the discovery of copper, bronze and iron, it was possible to process and use wood with increasing efficiency. By the beginning of the Iron Age, Britain’s population had reached more than a million and it is estimated that 50% of woodland had already been cleared to satisfy the demand for timber.

By the Middle Ages, advances in timber frame construction culminated in structures like the hammer-beam roof of Westminster Hall, the largest Medieval timber roof in Northern Europe, commissioned in 1393 by Richard II. From this period onwards, the pre-eminence of wood was gradually eroded by innovations such as brick and structural iron work. When reinforced concrete first appeared in the mid-1800s, its strength and versatility as a construction material were quickly recognised, signalling a new approach to building that has dominated ever since. One of the first skyscrapers made with reinforced concrete was the 16-storey Ingalls Building in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1904. The rest, as they say, is history.

Concrete and steel are a long way from being superseded by wood, but the emergence of CLT as a serious alternative in large structures demonstrates that, far from being a redundant or outdated material, the unique qualities of wood are still as relevant as ever.

London's first wooden skyscraper, the 300metre 80-storey Oakwood Timber Tower at the Barbican, is still only a concept.

Following the trend for timber high-rises, PLP Architecture and the University of Cambridge are researching a design concept for London's first wooden skyscraper – the 300-metre 80-storey Oakwood Timber Tower at the Barbican. meanwhile, the Japanese company Sumitomo Forestry has revealed plans for what would be the world's tallest wooden building in Tokyo at 350 metres, containing 90% or 185,000 cubic metres of wood.

The most obvious concern about high-rise timber buildings is the fire risk. CLT is designed to perform well in fires, building up a layer of char which can provide a substantial margin of fire resistance depending on the size and number of panels. PLP believe that their building will eventually meet or exceed existing fire regulations for steel and concrete buildings.

However, the Hacket review of building regulations and fire safety that followed the Grenfell tragedy, has had a major influence on the construction industry, restricting for now the use of structural timber walls in buildings taller than 18 metres.

The growth of CLT has been driven by practical and financial benefits as well as by clear environmental advantages. The embodied carbon of CLT is low compared to other materials because, apart from using comparatively little external energy in its manufacture, carbon is stored during tree growth and for the duration of its use. At the end of its life as a building material, carbon is released through natural decomposition or through the generation of energy from burning, both highly efficient waste disposal solutions compared to other materials.

As the only sustainable alternative to concrete and steel, wood is once again establishing itself as a versatile, cutting-edge building material perfectly suited to the times. For timber growers and managers, it is another indication of how important well managed forests, and the products they produce, will continue to be in the future.

paul.schofield@galbraithgroup.com 01738 456064

Thanks to Alex Brownlie of A & R Brownlie Ltd. for his contribution to this article.

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Why yon bonnie banks are in need of restoration Restoring woodland in upper river catchments can be of great benefit to water courses and the salmon that spawn in them.

Willie Beattie offers a Highland perspective.

RIPARIAn woodlands are those found in association with burns, rivers and lochs.

They occupy a variable area along these water bodies, depending on slope and the size of the water body. This means they can exert a strong influence on the nature of the water environment and help to protect or buffer it from activities on adjacent land.

When considering aquatic health, native woodland restoration stands out as essential, yet the upper catchments of many of our world famous salmon rivers are neglected, denuded areas.

Even when our rivers or catchments are designated for outstanding habitat quality a great deal can still be done to safeguard and improve the aquatic quality. However, tensions can exist with other habitats including designated peatland or wet heath, making woodland restoration a bureaucratic nightmare.

So why restore? Here are six good reasons: Temperature control: trees provides dapple shading so fish can regulate themselves during temperature spikes.

Improved feeding: trees harbour insect life which fall prey to fish. nutrient recycling: trees provide nutrients to which benefit water and riparian zone quality.

Cover: aquatic root systems provide cover from predators including piscivorous birds.

Bank stability: root systems knit into fragile bank structures, stabilising and slowing erosion.

Flash flooding: the erosion caused by flash flooding peaks can be softened by transpiration through tree canopies and run-off uptake by the woodland.

Technical issues In almost all instances protection from grazing animals is needed to allow newly planted trees to survive or existing bankside trees to seed and reestablish a healthy age structure. To achieve this on any meaningful scale stock or deer fencing is essential. Individual tree guards rarely work in the long term, especially within the most denuded and challenging sites.

Upper catchments are generally viewed as unspoilt and possibly wildland areas, so any type of fencing along beautiful burnsides is viewed as a scar on a pristine landscape unless you fully understand the context and timescales of restoration. Even when fences are well designed to minimise visual impacts they still feel alien and out of scale in our massive landscapes.

Deep peat is a no-go area for new woodlands as they are one of the most important environments in terms of carbon storage. Within the riparian context it should be argued that sensitive planting, following best forest practices within Page 10 | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | galbraithgroup.com

the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS), actually mitigates the erosion and exposure of peat, thus tackling carbon emissions on two fronts.

Financial help Scottish Natural Heritage or rural Payments and Inspections Division give funding assistance and technical help with peatland restoration through rural Payments and the Agri Environmental Climate Scheme, which offers support for riparian restoration works but this is not ideal for upper catchment woodland restoration except in some farming situations.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency has a water environmental fund which is more

DENUDED LANDSCAPES in the upper reaches of a salmon river, clockwise from top left: Scattered remnant seed trees along an otherwise treeless bank.

A decaying, windthrown birch, no longer producing viable seed.

As the bank fails, free sediment gets into the water system.

Large chunks of dislodged bank now in the water system adding sediment to spawning redds.

targeted at easements of redundant weirs and partnership works with local authorities but they are happy to help with technical support.

Scottish Forestry offers excellent financial support for a range of new woodland types through the Forestry Grant Scheme and is now achieving national targets (10,000 hectares a year) in woodland creation. Unfortunately, small burns don’t offer significant areas – the riparian area is generally only about 10 to 15 metres on each river bank at best. Financial help is only available for woodlands 15 metres wide or more, which makes total sense except in the riparian context.

Fencing is the big capital expense in most woodland creation projects, particularly in the

Highlands, and by the nature of what we are trying to do we create linear fences along watercourses with a very poor ratio of metres fenced to hectares protected. Again this will fall short of funding rules for value for money within the scoring system. This is perfectly acceptable in all instances except these high environmental value riparian restorations which should have a separate scoring criteria. The catchment needs to be viewed holistically with an overarching management plan in place.

willie.beattie@galbraithgroup.com 01463 245388

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The bad bug guide Stephen Sweeney looks at the growing array of threats to Britain’s trees.

A MulTITuDe of pests and diseases, often introduced with imported plants or timber, currently affect forests all over the uK. Climate change means the country’s temperatures continue to rise, the last decade being the warmest since records began, so it is likely that our forests will be exposed to an increasing number of pests and diseases. however, the correct treatment in conjunction with appropriate active management

Phytophthora ramorum One of the most serious and well-known of the diseases currently affecting forestry both in Scotland and further afield is Phytophthora ramorum. It is commonly referred to as larch disease because the species is particularly vulnerable to infection.

can reduce the danger. Checks are also in place at ports and timber processors to limit the likelihood of new pests and diseases being introduced through imports of either planting material or timber. here is what we know about the most common culprits, how to look out for signs of infection and successful control methods to minimise their impact.

stands of infected larch. The infection causes bark lesions often oozing dark fluid as well as wilting and withered shoots with blackened foliage which eventually kills the tree.

This disease was first found in 2009 and has since spread to forests across most of the UK. Phytophthora ramorum is a water mould and is therefore more common in the wetter western regions of the country, the largest concentration of infected sites in Scotland being located in the Dumfries and Galloway area.

There is no cure or effective chemical treatment to combat this disease, and current control methods focus on limiting its spread. Statutory Plant Health Notices (SPHNs) can be issued to force the felling of infected specimens and any other vulnerable trees within a 250 metre buffer zone, The movement and processing of infected timber can be controlled through licensing. These measures have brought a decrease in the number of infected sites in Scotland in recent years.

The disease is spread by tiny spores dispersed by the wind, movement of felled timber and travelling mammals. It can readily infect other common plant species such as rhododendron and has been found infecting isolated Sitka spruce trees within

Phytophthora ramorum has had a marked effect on forestry in Scotland with large areas of larch being felled under SPHNs. Larch is now seen as unsuitable for use in woodland creation projects due to the high likelihood of infection.

Dothistroma septosporum Commonly known as red band needle blight, Dothistroma septosporum affects a variety of coniferous species but is most often found in pine.

There has been a rapid increase in the number of reported incidents in the UK since the 1990s with lodgepole, Scots and Corsican pine being particularly vulnerable.

This fungal infection causes premature needle defoliation leading to decreased annual growth of the infected tree. A severe infection can lead to the death of the host tree. Symptoms of infection are first visible on the needles from September onwards. The disease causes discolouration of the needles with tan-coloured spots before the reddish-brown bands start to appear.

Dothistroma is treatable, good stand management being the primary method used in the UK. The Dothistroma fungus needs moisture and humidity, so regular thinning of pine stands to increase air flow through the crop will reduce the production and spread of spores. The disease is rarely fatal, its primary influence on forestry being to decrease timber yields.

hymenoscyphus fraxineus

fungal spores or through the movement of infected material, particularly leaf litter. There is no cure and no method to fully prevent the spread of the disease, but efforts have been made to limit its spread.

Hymenoscyphus fraxineus is another fungal disease affecting forestry in Scotland that primarily targets species of ash tree. It is more commonly known as Chalara ash dieback.

The disease causes continual dieback, weakening mature trees and making them more susceptible to other pests. It is often fatal for young or coppiced ash trees.

The first visible symptoms of infection by Chalara are the blackening and wilting of foliage in mid to late summer. From this point the disease will progress along the shoots and branches to reach the stem, forming dark lesions that will eventually girdle the tree and kill it by blocking the supply of fluids and nutrients from the roots.

The Chalara infection is spread by wind-borne

Photo: forestresearch.gov.uk

Photo: USDA Forest Service, Northern an

Early identification and removal of infected trees can slow the progress of the disease in mixed productive stands, and regular removal and burning of leaf litter in areas such as parklands can also help. Leaf litter should be burned or deep composted on site to avoid spreading spores.

The spread of Chalara has led to the introduction of prohibitions on the movement of ash planting material. Ash is no longer a species choice for woodland creation, but natural regeneration of existing ash stands is encouraged as resistance to the disease is thought to be hereditary.

Photo: Andrej Kunca, National Forest Ce

Page 12 | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | galbraithgroup.com

nd Intermountain Region, Bugwood.org

entre, Slovakia, Bugwood.org

hylobius abietis Hylobius abietis, the large pine weevil, is one of the most widespread and damaging pests that threatens the UK softwood timber-growing industry.

The pine weevil is 13mm long and dark brown in colour with patches of light brown or yellow. Adult beetles feed on the bark of any species of young conifer or broadleaved tree and other woody plants, leading to patches of bark removal. They lay their eggs in or near the stumps and roots of felled or dead conifer trees.

Severe damage by pine weevils is mostly limited to commercial clear-fell sites, where the felling of large areas of conifers creates an abundance of food and breeding opportunities for the weevil leading to a population explosion. The young trees used to restock the area are then exposed to an abnormally high weevil population resulting in trees being girdled and dying.

Photo: C. Hellqvist, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Bugwood.org

Losses of young restock trees due to weevil damage can be significant if no action is taken. The main method of control is an application of chemical insecticide both in the nursery prior to planting and via top-up spraying. A long fallow period before restocking can also help to reduce weevil damage.

Ips typographus The larger eight-toothed European spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus is a non-native pest common throughout Europe where it is responsible for widespread damage in commercial conifer crops.

One outbreak has been recorded in Kent, with tight control measures being introduced to prevent further spread. mature adult beetles are dark brown/black in colour with light brown or orange hairs. Adult females bore into the bark of weakened or windblown trees and lay eggs. When the larvae hatch they radiate outwards leaving a distinctive pattern of damage in the bark and surface wood.

Photo: W M Ciesla, Forest Health Management International, Bugwood.org

This species of bark beetle is not currently widespread in the UK, but it poses a significant threat to the commercial softwood timber industry.

It also has an effect on global timber markets as outbreaks can result in high volumes of timber entering the market over short time periods

Dendroctonus micans The great spruce bark beetle, Dendroctonus micans is the native equivalent of Ips typographus.

This bark beetle is another secondary pest in small numbers, preferring to attack windblown or already weakened trees. But when populations increase to a significant level they will target and overwhelm healthy trees.

Infestations are identified through visual inspections with resin bleeds on the truck or roots being an early indicator. The great bark beetle attacks trees in a similar way to its European counterpart.

Prolonged infestation by bark beetles will eventually show with the crown of the tree browning, the tree becoming girdled under the bark and eventually dying. The most effective method of control is biological in the form of the bark beetle’s natural predator – another beetle, Rhizophagus grandis.

Photo: Stanislaw Kinelski, Bugwood.org

galbraithgroup.com | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | Page 13

Always expect the unexpected IT IS fairly common to find oddities and noteworthy features when working on and walking through the forests we manage.

They can range from unrecorded archaeological features to old abandoned machinery. Last November we uncovered one of the more unexpected items on one of the sites we manage in Perthshire.

Bamff Farms, near Alyth, has recently undertaken a large area of native woodland planting. The second phase of planting was taking place last autumn at Balduff Hill when this particular item was found. The site is fairly remote, more than a kilometre from the farm, and planting was almost complete when the discovery was made.

While I was on site, the contractor called to tell me that one of his planters had unearthed what he simply described as “a bomb”.

The object was later identified as a three-inch mortar round, probably dating from the Second World War, which had been brought to the surface by the scarification used to cultivate the site before planting.

Forest resilience: wh

We immediately evacuated the area and called the emergency services.

About 30 minutes after the call to the emergency services two police officers arrived to relay information to a bomb disposal unit and guard the site until their arrival. Later that evening a bomb disposal team successfully disposed of the bomb.

Planting was able to continue and was completed the following day.

Finding this mortar round on the planting site was unusual and a little concerning for a number of reasons. Uncovering any sort of unexploded ordinance is, thankfully, not a common occurrence and was even more unusual in this situation as there was no record of any military training having been carried out in the area.

This was potentially a near miss for both the ground prep contractor and the planters – and it goes to show that you can never be certain what is underfoot.

Stephen Sweeney

stephen.sweeney@galbraithgroup.com 01738 456073

Tree-planting strategies need to change in the face of greater risks of disease, but how exactly? asks Paul Schofield.

SCOTTISh FOReSTRy describes building forest resilience as managing age diversity, species, and structure through restocking to reduce the risk of changing environmental, economic, and market conditions in the future.

This sounds like a sensible approach but what does it really mean in practice?

Climate change is likely to increase the risk of forest pests and diseases in the future. Predictions also suggest that drought will become an increasingly important factor in tree health, particularly in the east of the country, causing increased susceptibility to fungal diseases.

Dry summers, higher winter temperatures and extreme weather events are also likely to increase the impact of forest pests such as aphids and bark beetles by accelerating their propagation rates and weakening host trees.

In the past decade, woodland owners and managers have been confronted as never

Page 14 | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | galbraithgroup.com

before with a variety of new forest pests and diseases.

Since it was first found on larch in 2009, the impact of Phytophthora ramorum, particularly in south-west Scotland, has been well documented. Ash dieback, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, appeared three years later and has since become a widespread and potentially devastating threat to one of our two main native broadleaved species.

Since the mid-2000s Dothistroma (red band) needle blight, a previously minor disease in Corsican pine, has become common throughout the UK affecting stands of lodgepole pine, Scots pine and Corsican pine, particularly in the east and north of Scotland. Over the same period, green spruce aphid Elatobium abietinum, has become common in eastern Scotland, placing Sitka spruce under increased risk of severe defoliation in the future.

Further afield, the European spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus, has become increasingly destructive in commercial spruce stands in continental Europe, particularly Germany and the Czech republic. In late 2018, a breeding population of Ips typographus was discovered in Kent by the Forestry

Birch is worth considering on free draining soils at lower elevations.

at does it really mean?

Commission, the first time the pest has been found in the wider UK environment.

drier soils with more limited applications as a structural timber.

The potential rise of drought related pests and diseases on susceptible sites suggests that matching tree species to site conditions will become increasingly important, ensuring that drought susceptible species such as Sitka and Norway spruce are planted on sites with suitable soil moisture.

Larch is no longer a viable option so the other main alternatives are noble fir, Norway spruce, western red cedar and western hemlock. Forest research recently compared the structural timber properties of these species with Sitka spruce, concluding that all species were capable of meeting the strength classes required for use in construction, with western red cedar the least desirable.

High yields of C16 timber were obtained from all species with Norway spruce and western hemlock producing acceptable yields of C18.

The increase in outbreaks of hostspecific pests and diseases has highlighted the fact that the UK forestry and timber processing industries rely heavily on Sitka spruce and a small number of other productive conifers.

This has focused attention on planting a wider range of tree species to promote resilience and minimise the potential risk from unknown future threats. Until recently, however, there has been a lack of evidence about how diversification might impact on the future marketability of timber.

The properties of Douglas fir and Scots pine are well known. On sheltered, well drained sites, Douglas fir provides an excellent alternative to Sitka spruce.

Scots pine offers longer rotations on

All species have strengths and weaknesses. For example, Norway spruce is susceptible to butt rot, vulnerable to drought and less tolerant of a windy climate than Sitka spruce.

However, these findings help to support more widespread use of alternative conifers already well-known in British forestry. The use of more obscure conifer species has also been proposed but there is little confidence in species such as macedonian pine, giant sequoia or silver fir that have never been grown at a forest scale in the UK. Their widespread

planting is not recommended until appropriate species and provenance trials have been carried out.

Birch is among the strongest and densest timbers grown in Britain and capable of producing high-quality sawn timber if properly managed. With rotations of around 60 years, it is worthy of consideration as an alternative timber species on free draining soils at lower elevations.

Considering a wider range of tree species when replanting and matching them to site conditions is not radical in itself but will help to promote more robust woodlands in the future.

However, although Sitka spruce can be established without protection, the more palatable alternatives usually require deer fencing to get them away in most areas. The main challenge to building forest resilience is therefore likely to be widespread acceptance of fencing as an additional cost.

paul.schofield@galbraithgroup.com 01738 456064

galbraithgroup.com | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | Page 15

The benefits of brash removal The growing demand for ‘lop and top’ to feed biomass boilers makes brash recovery an attractive idea, although not all forestry sites are suitable, says Russell Porter.

InCReASInG demand for biomass for heat and power generation is providing opportunities to recover brash, as well as harvest timber from felling sites.

Brash is defined as the above ground parts of the tree not generally removed from the site after felling – the foliage, branches and crown of the tree.

Often called lop and top, brash has traditionally been left on the site or perhaps heaped up and burned. The use of large modern harvesting machinery means brash is often laid in mats to help support the machines and prevent ground damage such as rutting and compaction. It is this material which, in the right situation, may be suitable for

removal from the site to be chipped for use in biomass boilers.

There are a number of factors to consider before harvesting brash to ensure there is no detriment to the site or the wider environment.

Standard forestry machines, often in combination with tracked excavators, are used to lift the brash mats and move the material to the roadside. Putting these machines back over a site on brash mats that will already be degraded to some degree has the potential to cause significant ground damage.

Consideration needs to be given to the site’s topography and soil types to avoid compaction, rutting and erosion.

On peat-dominated sites there is potential for carbon loss caused by the drying out of the peat from either ground damage or the removal of the mulching effect of the brash. This is not recommended on sites where the depth of peat is greater than 30cm. removing material from the site can adversely affect soil fertility and acidity.

Different soil types will react differently

Page 16 | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | galbraithgroup.com

to brash removal, but as a general principle, especially on poorer soils, it is best to delay the operation until the needles have dropped from the branches.

Water quality can be affected by harvesting operations but this can be managed by using suitable extraction routes with appropriate use of brash. removing brash can cause dirty water to run off the site into watercourses. Brash needs to be heaped at the roadside before being chipped, so extra care must be taken to keep mud and residues out of roadside drains.

A lot of space is needed to stack brash at the roadside to allow it to be chipped into a wagon. In general the wagons used to move chipped brash are not specially designed to work in the forest – unlike timber wagons – so there may be extra road maintenance costs.

There are several possible benefits from brash removal: • Ground preparation following harvesting will be much easier without the brash to manage, so it should be less expensive. The disturbance caused

Local focus brings success to log enterprise Father and son team John and Roderick Low have been managing their woodlands and running Dunearn Logs for about 10 years. Roderick explains how the business has developed.

My FATheR started processing firewood following the outbreak of Dutch elm disease in the 1980s.

I was studying land economy at Aberdeen in 2012 when I decided to push Dunearn Logs and make the business more substantial. It has since turned into a full-time job.

It’s a team effort. my father does gun sales from the farm and balances his time with the logs, mostly doing deliveries. I split my time between the farm (we have a couple of hundred ewes) and timber processing.

We also bring in casual labour during busy periods and to help with thinning operations.

by ground preparation will be far less intensive, reducing the potential for soil degradation, and correct stocking densities will be easier to achieve once the brash has been removed.

• Brash removal reduces many of the slip and trip hazards found on harvested sites, making planting and maintenance operations safer, easier and potentially cheaper.

• Vermin control is much more effective on a clean site with good sightlines and fewer habitats for mammals to colonise, reducing losses of restocked trees.

• Depending on the distance to market, the chips produced from the brash should provide additional income.

Any site being considered for brash removal needs to be assessed to ensure the benefits outweigh any negative impact. An assessment ensures compliance with the UK Forestry Standard and will also be used by forest certification bodies when carrying out audits.

russell.porter@galbraithgroup.com 01434 405971

they are seasoned to below 20% moisture content. We actually sold out of dry stock during the Beast from the East cold snap in 2018.

The timber enterprise contributes well to the overall farm business. Our goal was to manage and improve our woodland and to work with neighbours who are running much larger farms, buying in local timber to balance with our own stocks. The key to our success has been to focus on supplying the local market – we’re not trying to break any records.

If we can keep up the quality of the firewood, I think we will keep increasing our local customer base which is already strong. The next thing is to mill more timber for higher value planking.

We feel the demand is there and having a small volume of good quality sawn timber available is very exciting.

We are also looking at trying to encourage more customers to buy wood wet to season themselves just as they do on the continent. We have several customers who do this but if we

This has been a great way forward for our enterprise. We have a handful of reliable locals who really enjoy coming to Dunearn for some extra work, getting outside in the woods and doing some hard graft. We are currently thinning a plantation from the 1990s which is on steep ground.

The Dunearn woodlands are mixed, with long established areas dating from the 1800s containing beech, oak, larch, sycamore, Scots pine and ash. New plantings include ash, larch, oak, beech and birch. At the moment, we are processing more than 200 tonnes of hardwood a year with a turnover of about £50,000. The timber is mostly brought in from a neighbouring timber operation. All wood originates from the Kingdom of Fife, which fits our sustainable, local approach.

The processing equipment we use is manufactured in Austria by Posch. We took the view that a conventional firewood processor was not ideal because the timber we process is so mixed in size. Instead, we have a vertical and horizontal splitter, both run off a tractor PTO. We use the Scandinavian approach of breaking down large timber into billets which are then stacked for seasoning. We then run these billets over a Posch saw bench and conveyor.

We dry the timber in open pole barns – no kiln drying required. The timber bought in cord lengths is unseasoned – some has been felled for a couple of years but it is never fully seasoned until cut and split. We only sell the logs once

get more people on board it means less pressure on stocks in the winter.

It will be interesting to see what the Scottish Government does regarding wood-burning stoves and the seasoning of logs. The new rules on moisture content announced recently in England* seems to be steering us more to kiln drying. We should be looking to Scandinavia for inspiration – wood seasons itself with a little planning. facebook.com/Dunearnlogs

01592 873874

*Sales of wet wood in small units (less than 2 cu m) will be phased out in England from February 2021 to reduce air pollution. Wood burning stoves will not be banned but wet wood in volumes greater than 2 cu m will have to be sold with advice about how to dry it before burning. Similar proposals are being considered in Wales and Scotland.

galbraithgroup.com | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | Page 17

Understanding specialist woodland insurance Damage to woodland can be costly. Louise Alexander explains what insurance is available.

AlMOST all landowners will have their woodlands included on their public liability insurance to protect against claims from members of the public using these areas.

However there are also specific ‘woodland’ insurance policies available from a small number of specialist providers. So what can be covered through these policies and how can you tailor them to get maximum benefits without paying over the odds?

Two main types of cover are available: fire and windblow.

Fire cover Fire cover will pay out for damage caused to trees by wildfires or arson. It will not cover any damage caused by a ‘controlled’ fire on the policy holder’s land becoming an ‘uncontrolled’ fire. However, a neighbour’s muirburn which gets onto the policyholder’s property would be covered.

Fire is generally a more significant risk to young trees, which can become completely engulfed and are more likely to die, whereas mature trees can survive quickmoving fires and are more likely to be left with at least part of the crown alive. Fires can also have an impact on infrastructure such as deer fences, and this needs to be considered when calculating the insured value. Some policies will also pay for firefighting costs, including helicopters, if they are deemed necessary by the fire officer in charge.

Fire cover is generally relatively inexpensive, however it can also be targeted by only covering the most at-risk woodlands. These would generally be: • young plantations, • woodlands in and around towns, particularly where there is a history of incidents of arson, • woodlands immediately adjacent to muirburn hills.

value so these policies are only really designed for significant windblow areas, not individual trees or small pockets. With modern harvesting machinery, windblown timber can be harvested and brought out to sale but it can still lose value in a variety of ways: • the working costs of windblow are higher than normal, • windblow timber can be split and twisted so it may be downgraded from log quality to chip quality, • windblown timber may be premature so there is a loss of the additional value and weight it would have added if it has grown to commercial maturity. most windblow policies are now designed so that the policy holder retains the value of the windblow timber when it is sold. The insurance payment is therefore a top-up which is designed to compensate for the value lost as outlined above.

It may also pay something towards getting aerial photos of damaged areas and the management time spent in responding to windblow.

Young trees are generally not covered for windblow until they are 21 years old as they are not a significant risk. Some insurance providers also set an upper limit of 50 years old. However this can exclude commercial pine and fir plantations which are operating on longer rotations. It is worth checking with the insurer in advance to make sure that they cover an appropriate age range.

Growing conditions can have a significant impact on the risk of windblow. Woodlands at higher elevations and on waterlogged soils are more likely to be impacted. For inaccessible woodlands at high risk of windblow, it is worth factoring in the difficulty of re-establishing these woodlands when calculating an appropriate insurance value.

To get the best out of these policies it is important to tailor the insurance cover to the specific risks in each woodland. As these risks change through time it is important to review your insurance carefully each year. An up-to-date stock map is also vital to ensure that you can clearly identify any areas where you need to claim.

Windblow cover Damage caused by wind is called windblow, and windblow insurance is designed to protect landowners from the loss of income caused by large-scale windblow events.

There is usually a minimum claim

louise.alexander@galbraithgroup.com 01463 245381

Page 18 | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | galbraithgroup.com

How to make the most of a small broadleaved wood The growing wood fuel market means neglected areas of woodland can be given a new lease of commercial life, says Paul Schofield.

BROADleAveD woodlands on farms and estates are an important but often under-valued resource.

They have the potential to generate a wide range of benefits, including income from timber harvesting, improved game and wildlife habitat, shelter for livestock, improved water quality, flood management and landscape continuity.

Over the last decade or so, the growth of the wood fuel market has provided the opportunity to bring woodland back into management that may have been overlooked for many decades, allowing them to contribute profitably to the wider farm or estate enterprise.

These woodlands vary greatly in character and composition; examples include naturally

“

Few sites are without issues, but usually these can be resolved with proper planning.

regenerated birch and sycamore, mature oak or beech plantations and mixed policy woodlands.

Conifers are often present, sometimes as small blocks or scattered old growth conifers.

Such woodlands are frequently small-scale and they often occupy steep, wet or uneven ground which can constrain timber harvesting operations. They are often distant from public roads and lack the necessary access and infrastructure to enable lorries to uplift timber safely.

Few sites are without issues, but usually these can be resolved with proper planning. The current Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS), due to close in December, offers support for creating new forest roads and lorry loading facilities in undermanaged or inaccessible woodland up to 50 hectares.

If achievable, most woodlands benefit from regular thinning, which helps to restore productivity and enables dormant woods to flourish, allowing the removal of larger volumes of timber in the longer term by providing more growing space for remaining trees. Thinning also improves timber quality and resilience to storm damage and creates better conditions for trees and vegetation to regenerate under the canopy.

The most appropriate type of intervention will depend on species, age and location. For example, small-scale clear felling may be more appropriate than thinning in exposed areas or where undermanagement has resulted in over-stocking and poor tree stability. Whatever the proposed management, formal felling permission must be obtained from Scottish Forestry for any thinning or felling.

Woodland operations must also be planned with care to avoid damage to soils, pollution of watercourses and disturbance of protected species in accordance with the UK Forest Standard. This must, of course, be balanced with minimising running costs and producing enough timber to make the whole enterprise worthwhile.

In recent years, the availability and range of small-scale, low-intensity machinery has increased significantly and there are now options available to suit most situations, including dedicated harvesters and forwarders, forest tractors and winches and even traditional horse logging.

With improved markets for low grade timber, wider availability of suitable equipment and well targeted grant support, there has never been a better time to unlock the potential of broadleaved woodlands.

paul.schofield@galbraithgroup.com 01738 456064

galbraithgroup.com | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | Page 19

The joy of native hardwoods Is there a market for Scottish-grown hardwood other than as biomass and woodfuel? Luke Wilson asks sawmill owner Mark Councill of Logie Timber in the Findhorn valley near Forres.

Cell-grown trees have a robust root system.

Who are Logie Timber and what do you do?

Giving young trees a head start Lauren Glass explains the benefits of using cell-grown stock.

AlBA TReeS are specialists in cellgrown plants, producing more than 18 million trees a year, a figure which is increasing rapidly.

Galbraith, one of our biggest clients, uses our cell grown stock for a number of projects from rewilding to afforestation. Cell grown stock has many benefits as the small individual containers they are grown in are specially designed to eliminate root-spiralling and offer substantial benefits to the establishment and growing on of the plants.

Our trees are grown in deep cell trays which can be safely graded and dispatched from the nursery all year round without damage to the roots. Cell-grown plants can be planted at any time of year – which is of particular benefit in summer and autumn before bareroot trees have gone dormant and can be lifted.

The high establishment percentage of cell grown trees means there are minimal stock losses and a reduced beat-up requirement. They are also easy to plant as ground cultivation is minimised. If planting is delayed by weather or other factors, cellgrown stock can be held for several weeks without problems provided the roots are kept moist.

Our cell-grown trees are sturdy and robust to withstand handling and transit, though they must be handled with a little care to ensure the root plugs stay intact. Keeping the stock sheltered before planting is crucial to prevent freezing or

overheating, and trees should not be stored in the dark for long periods of time.

One of the main benefits of cellgrown stock is the lack of root disturbance unlike bare root trees which lose a proportion of root in the lifting process and will take time to recover. During planting some of the long straggly root systems will fall victim to a spade, and in warmer periods this can result in bare-root trees dying if they have not managed to grow back a sufficient root system.

By contrast, cell-grown trees have a robust root system contained within the plug, meaning they are much less prone to transplanting shock.

As cell-grown trees can be supplied in a growing phase through spring, summer and autumn, there will be root activity within the plug which allows trees to get established before the onset of winter.

Tree planting is currently at the forefront of government thinking and the Scottish Government continues to increase annual targets. The 2020/21 planting target has increased to 12,000 hectares, an increase of 800 hectares on 2019 figures. In 2019 84% of all new UK planting was in Scotland.

Alba is working closely with the wider industry and the government to meet those targets. Cell-grown trees can often be produced more quickly than traditional bare-root growing, meaning we can bring more trees to market more quickly to match industry needs.

Lauren Glass is e-sales manager at Alba Trees lg@albatrees.co.uk 01620 825058

Page 20 | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | galbraithgroup.com

We are a relatively new company and it’s a partnership between myself and Alec Laing.

The business encompasses a sawmill, wood drying kiln and showroom aimed at processing local Scottish trees to produce high quality timber products, with a focus on furniture grade hardwood.

We also offer services such as tree felling and extraction, planting and can also provide advice on the correct wood to be using for particular projects or connect you with local makers to build it for you. I like to think of this as the full circle approach. If it involves wood, we can help!

Alec and I both share a passion for developing a market for high quality timber in the region. I’m an established forester and tree surgeon in the local area and can source timber from forestry jobs where it would otherwise be a waste product or firewood.

Alec manages his family’s property, Logie Estate, which has a significant amount of timber including interesting woods that aren’t suitable for traditional commercial forestry which we can put to good use at the mill.

The idea of adding value to our local natural resources was the initial impetus to start Logie Timber.

What makes you unique?

We offer a full range of services but I think what makes us unique is our Boardroom. This is effectively our shop front. Based at Logie Steading, it’s filled with timber suitable for furniture, mantelpieces, cladding, fencing, table tops, turning blanks and offcuts. The general public can come in and pick a stunning piece of Scottish timber right off the shelf and take it away without the need to spend hours and hours sanding it down to get it smooth and level.

How do you source your timber? Is it difficult to find or has your business model overcome this?

We are in regular contact with forest managers, landowners and private individuals to source the timber we need. Sometimes we have specific requirements but we will always consider buying any timber, even if we don’t have a use for it straight away.

Our business model has evolved to capitalise on the available timber and we work with the wood to take advantage of the unique character of individual logs. This means a lot of our products, especially hardwoods, are one-off and cannot be replicated, which only adds to the appeal in my opinion.

There have been concerns that, although Scottish hardwood can be of high quality, the issue for industry has been consistency and availability. How do you think we could aim to change this?

Well this is interesting, I would be very cautious about pointing the finger at landowners or forest managers for the lack of availability. We can grow good quality hardwoods in Scotland, but without a market for the end product, it’s difficult to justify doing so.

I feel that, as a buyer, the responsibility is mine to develop a viable market and develop products that can drive this. Part of the solution is to first and foremost plant broadleaves that could be suitable for commercial use and secondly, bring existing broadleaved woodlands under active management.

sale. The aim is to increase efficiency and make the buying process as smooth as possible.

This expansion inevitably comes with an increased requirement for timber and we see this as the first step in giving agents and landowners confidence that there will be a sizable market for Scottish hardwoods in the future if they decide to plant them.

The Boardroom is where Logie Timber showcases localgrown hardwoods.

Below: Mark Councill (third from right) with his team.

luke.wilson@galbraithgroup.com 01463 245375

What advice would you give landowners or agents who feel that they have trees that may be of interest?

All I can say is get in touch with us. Whether it’s a single tree or a woodland, we are always willing to come and have a chat. I really want to see the value of Scottish hardwood being used and kept in Scotland. Ideally I would like to see the efficiency of softwood sales transposed on to hardwood sales to demystify the process and create working relationships providing mutual benefits.

Finally, what is on the horizon for Logie Timber?

Our Boardroom has been a huge success and we are now planning a bigger showroom at the mill.

This will allow us to hold a larger range of stock of various species and specifications ready for

galbraithgroup.com | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | Page 21

Growing my career FInDInG appropriate work experience while completing your studies at the Scottish School of Forestry is harder than you might think.

Fortunately the school’s placement programme enabled me to secure work experience with an Englishbased company as a contract mensuration surveyor.

As part of a team working in Forestry Commission woodlands I gained experience collecting data and using industry-standard GIS software to manipulate and analyse large data sets and produce detailed commercial forestry surveys.

The next logical step as I entered my honours degree year was to seek a graduate position with a longestablished forestry management company. Galbraith was one of the few companies offering part-time employment to degree students yet to complete their final year, so when the opportunity arose I immediately applied. Following a rigorous recruitment process I was selected for the position of assistant forester.

From day one Galbraith took a flexible and pragmatic approach to my academic commitments, accommodating a changeable academic timetable, supplying me with the necessary clothing and kit, and enrolling me in work-related training programmes, such as offroad driving, making it abundantly clear that at all times safety is paramount.

This became all too clear early on when I forgot to report in my status from the field. By the time I remembered to, a full-scale mandown escalation was about to be authorised. Lesson learned!

I am gaining invaluable experience as part of an established professional forestry team. mentoring and arm’s length supervision have allowed my confidence in my own abilities to grow. The team continues to support my honours dissertation on drones in forestry, going out of their way to find contacts for my research and offering test sites.

More than just fencing Stephen Sweeney goes behind the scenes with a well-known forestry contractor.

FOReSTRy contractors play a key role in the delivery of high quality forest management and skilled, reliable contractors are much in demand.

One such contractor is robertson Fencing, owned and operated by rab robertson, who works regularly with the Perth team. rab has been involved with a number of projects ranging from woodland creation to re-stock sites. He comes from an agricultural background and, after university, he started work in the forestry sector as a sub-contractor. He became particularly interested in the fencing process and this led him to set up robertson Fencing in 2007.

The business began on a small scale, with rab the sole employee, working with a pinch bar and a maul to erect stock and domestic fences. He later began to specialise in forestry fencing and the business grew steadily, helped by a move from the remote Kinloch rannoch area to a more central location outside Pitlochry, leased from Athol Estates. rab invested in machinery such as tractors and excavators primarily to mechanise the fencing operations but quickly decided that expansion into the forestry ground preparation sector was

And did I mention they are a fun team to be part of both in work and play?

With the firm’s support and encouragement, I will soon graduate and my career will go to the next level as a full-time forester.

Jacob Dean jacob.dean@galbraithgroup.com 01463 245690

Page 22 | Forestry Matters | Summer 2020 | galbraithgroup.com

an obvious step to diversify the business.

Ground preparation has become particularly important to forestry in recent times. Gone are the days of simply ploughing vast areas of land. most woodland creation sites require two or more different styles of ground preparation to make the most of the available area. robertson Fencing currently has 23 full-time staff – a mixture of fencing staff and specialised machine operators.

The business has access to a fleet of machines including five tractors and eight excavators with an array of attachments to allow a variety of ground preparation and fencing projects.

This allows rab to offer a comprehensive site preparation and fencing service without the need for expensive purposebuilt machines.

A new permanent depot and workshop is now being built on the Pitlochry site, and the business has further diversified to include road and track construction, but fencing remains the primary focus.

Information technology has become a vital component of the business, allowing risk assessments, maintenance logs, maps and job priorities to be shared instantly with employees whatever their location.

stephen.sweeney@galbraithgroup.com 01738 456073

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