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Softwood deliveries of UK-grown roundwood

In 2015, deliveries of UK roundwood (softwood and hardwood) totalled 10.8 million green tonnes, a 6% decrease from the previous year (Tables 2.5 and 2.6). Most UK roundwood deliveries (95%) were softwood and totalled 10.3 million green tonnes in 2015 (Table 2.5). 6.2 million green tonnes (60% of UK softwood deliveries) were used by sawmills, an […]

Hardwood deliveries of UK-grown roundwood

There was a total of 0.5 million green tonnes of UK hardwood deliveries in 2015 (Table 2.6). The majority of UK hardwood deliveries (76% in 2015) were used for woodfuel. Table 2.6 Deliveries of UK-grown hardwood, 2006-2015 Year Sawmills Pulp mills Wood-based panels Woodfuel1 Other2 Total thousand green tonnes 2006 64 54 1 250 70 438 2007 66 0 5 300 69 440 2008 66 0 2 300 63 431 2009 76 0 1 400 59 536 2010 75 0 1 400 59 535 2011 81 0 1 400 59 541 2012 75 0 2 400 55 532 2013 74 0 0 400 55 529 2014 77 0 0 400 55 532 2015 73 0 0 400 55 528 Source: industry surveys, industry associations. Notes: 1. Woodfuel derived from stemwood, includes estimated roundwood use for biomass energy. The […]

2016 – Carbon sequestration

In climate change reporting, removals to forestland, also called the forest sink, measures the net annual accumulation of carbon in forests by woody biomass, soils and litter. Table 4.2 and Figure 4.2 show estimates and projections of net carbon dioxide removals attributed to UK forestry, from 1990 to 2020. In the longer term, the annual rate […]

Economic studies

A selection of reports and studies into the economic impacts of biomass

General biomass information

General background information about woodfuel and biomass

2019 – Woodland Inventories

The current National Forest Inventory is the first continuous inventory of British woodlands and is being conducted on a five-year cycle. Prior to the National Forest Inventory, a series of one-off woodland inventories took place in Great Britain every 15 years or so. Most inventories used slightly different definitions of woodland, so some apparent changes in […]

Restocking by UK country

Figure 1.6 shows areas of new planting by country since the year ending March 1976. UK new planting rates have fallen from the late 1980s, decreasing by 82% between 1988-89 and 2009-10. This followed changes to the tax benefits from owning forestry in the UK, introduced in the 1988 Finance Act (www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/39/contents). The area of new […]

Age profile of woodland in GB

Figure 1.3 presents the age profile of woodland in Great Britain for conifers and for broadleaves. It shows that broadleaves are more evenly distributed across the age classes than conifers. Figure 1.3 Age profile of woodland in GB Source: National Forest Inventory: 50-year forecast of softwood availability (Forestry Commission, April 2014), National Forest Inventory: 50-year forecast of […]

Principal tree species in GB by stocked area

Figures 1.4a and 1.4b show that, whilst the conifer area is dominated by a few species (Sitka spruce and Scots pine together account for around two thirds of the conifer area), broadleaves are more varied. Figure 1.4a Principal tree species in GB by stocked area: Conifers Source: National Forest Inventory: 50-year forecast of softwood availability (Forestry Commission, […]

2016 – Area of Farm Woodland

Agricultural Censuses run by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and the devolved administrations collect annual information on the land-use of farms. Table 1.12 below shows the area of woodland on farms. The area of farm woodland in the UK has increased from 606 thousand hectares in 2006 to 961 thousand hectares in 2015 […]

Woodland area in the UK

The 3.16 million hectares of woodland in the UK in 2016 represents 13% of the total land area. This comprises 10% in England, 15% in Wales, 18% in Scotland and 8% in Northern Ireland (Table 1.2). Table 1.2 Woodland area in the United Kingdom Year England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland2 UK Area (000 ha) %1 Area (000 ha) %1 Area (000 ha) %1 Area (000 ha) %1 Area (000 ha) %1 1086 .. ~15 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. c1350 .. ~10 .. .. .. ~4 .. .. .. ;.. 17thC .. ~8 .. .. .. ~4 .. ~1.5 .. .. 1905 681 5.2 88 4.2 351 4.5 15 1.1 1 140 4.7 1924 660 5.1 103 5.0 435 5.6 13 1.0 1 211 5.0 1947 755 5.8 128 6.2 513 6.6 23 1.7 1 419 5.9 1965 886 6.8 201 9.7 656 8.4 42 3.1 1 784 7.4 1980 948 7.3 241 11.6 920 11.8 67 4.9 2 175 9.0 1995-99 1 097 8.4 287 13.8 1 […]

2016 – Certified woodland area

Certified woodland in the UK has been independently audited against the UK Woodland Assurance Standard. Forestry certification schemes are owned by international non-governmental organisations and exist to promote good forest practice. They offer product labels to demonstrate that wood or wood products come from well-managed forests. Figures for certified woodland areas are often used as an […]