FWN38 Autumn 2022 – Editorial

2022 continues to be a year like no other. The demand for forestry products, for new woodland creation, and for management of existing woodlands continues to rapidly increase, and the industry is working hard to keep pace with demand.

In this edition of Farm Woodland News, we have a celebration of Scotland’s Finest Woods, with the award ceremony having just taken place at the Royal Highland Show – for the first in person awards event since 2019, and a promising sign that we are gradually returning to normal again following over 2 years of disruption following the global COVID-19 pandemic.

We also have two key updates on Carbon Markets – one from the viewpoint of a forestry agent, explaining how these markets currently work and what a farm woodland owner should look out for in this rapidly evolving market, and a second update from the experts at the Woodland Carbon Code – the quality assurance standard for Woodland Creation projects in the UK – giving us a key update on the new Woodland Carbon Code Version 2.2, summarising what is changing in the code’s rules and eligibility criteria, and why.

Industry updates are also featured covering topics such as the current Forestry Grant Scheme statistics and key changes to these grants, a timber market update (like all markets this year, it’s been a lively period), and an update on tree health and resilience.

Finally, we have an overview of the recently published Rural Land Markets Insights Report, which was undertaken to identify and better understand trends within the rural land market, and how these are being influenced by the increasing demand for natural capital investment.

As always, the Farm Advisory Service is here to help. Visit the FAS website to sign up to online events download guidance information and listen podcasts. On-farm events have now resumed, and there is a fantastic programme of events already published for the year ahead- with many more still to come.

Ben Law, Senior Forestry Consultant
ben.law@sac.co.uk