4.1 INTRODUCTION: TIME AND SPACE IN FORESTRY

Scotland's forests and woodlands are a precious national asset, not only contributing to the economy and to climate change mitigation but also forming an integral part of the character of the country's diverse landscapes. Approaching half of all the UK's woodland lies in Scotland. With a total area of 1.49M ha, woods cover 19 per cent of Scotland compared with just 10 per cent of England (FC 2022). Trees grow fast in the temperate, maritime climate, faster than almost anywhere else in Europe, an advantage tempered by exposure to Atlantic gales. For historical reasons the distribution of woodland (Fig. 4.1) is largely the distribution of commercial plantations. These in turn comprise largely introduced tree species (Table 4.1) because none of Scotland's native trees can compete with the growth rates of the conifers which were imported from western North America in the early nineteenth century by pioneers such as David Douglas. These include Douglas fir, Lodgepole pine and Western hemlock, but the tree which outperforms all rivals on these shores is the Sitka spruce, especially those from Alaska's Queen Charlotte Islands. When introduced in 1831 by Douglas, he commented with remarkable prescience that since it thrives on poor soils it could become 'a large and useful tree . . . [which] would profitably clothe the bleak barren hilly parts of Scotland', though not all would share his view that it would 'improve the beauty of the country' (in House and Dingwall 2003: 150). The Scottish forest industry is dependent to a considerable degree on this one species; it accounts for 43 per cent of all woodland, whereas native oak, for example, makes up just 2 per cent (FC 2022).

In their native lands, all these introduced species form magnificent forests, but the insensitive way that they were used in commercial plantations in this country during the twentieth century led to them being widely reviled.