For anyone that's keen on number crunching, here's the latest stats on woodland cover in the UK.
9 JUNE 2011 FC NEWS RELEASE No: 14697
UK WOODLAND AREA, PLANTING AND RESTOCKING STATISTICS PUBLISHED
The latest National Statistics on woodland area, planting and restocking
produced by the Forestry Commission were released today in accordance
with the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
The First Release contains provisional statistics for the year to March
2011 on:
* the woodland area of the United Kingdom and its four constituent
countries;
* certified woodland area; and
* area of new woodland planting and restocking (replanting of harvested
sites).
The main findings are that:
* the area of woodland in the UK at 31 March 2011 was 3.08 million
hectares. This represents 13 per cent of the total land area in the UK,
10 per cent in England, 15 per cent in Wales, 18 per cent in Scotland
and 6 per cent in Northern Ireland;
* of the total UK woodland area, 870,000 hectares are owned or managed
by the Forestry Commission (in Great Britain) or the Forest Service (in
Northern Ireland);
* the total area of certified woodland in the UK at 31 March was 1.33
million hectares, including all Forestry Commission and Forest Service
woodland. Overall, 43 per cent of UK woodland area is certified;
* 9000 hectares of new woodland were created in the UK in 2010-11,
mostly with broadleaved species; and
*14,000 hectares of woodland were restocked in the UK in 2010-11, mostly
with conifer trees.
These statistics will next be updated in September 2011, with final
results for the year to March 2011, and in June 2012, with provisional
results for the year to March 2012).
The full details of this statistics release are available in the
statistics area of the Forestry Commission's website at
www.forestry.gov.uk/statistics. Further information is also available
from Jackie Watson in the Commission's Economics & Statistics Unit, tel:
0131 314 6171; e-mail: [email protected]