Wales has more forest and woodland than was previously thought, according to preliminary results of the most comprehensive forest survey ever undertaken.
The Forestry Commission’s National Forest Inventory (NFI) for Wales, published today (Thursday, 17 March), shows that there are about 303,500 hectares of forest and woodland across Wales, representing 14.3 per cent of the country’s total land area. This is around 20,000ha more than existing data had indicated.
The increase in the reported forest area can be partly attributed to improved tools and measuring techniques since the previous national inventory – known as the National Inventory of Woodland and Trees (NIWT) – was carried out between 1995 and 1999.
Today’s publication of woodland cover statistics is just the first of many outputs expected from the NFI which, when complete, will be the most comprehensive inventory of Britain’s woods and forests ever compiled.
Clive Thomas, FC Wales head of policy, said the NFI map and statistics on woodland cover were good news for everyone involved with Wales’s forests and woods.
“Although this woodland area change is mainly explained by improved survey techniques, it’s the underlying information that will be available in the months and years to come that is really valuable.
“It will help us to provide advice to the Welsh Assembly Government on its policies for woodlands and trees. And – most importantly – due to the move to a rolling inventory process, we will be able to far more accurately detect changes over time.
“This all bodes well for the future as we aim to make Welsh woodlands more resilient to the effects of a changing climate, as well as to further improve their multipurpose delivery for people and the wider environment.”
This more accurate information on woodland cover will be a useful guide for the new Glastir woodland grants scheme.
It will also ensure that the information for woodland cover in Wales to be incorporated into the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, which will be published in March, is as up to date as possible.
Over the next few years, the Commission will publish a wide range of NFI information including composition, age, carbon sequestered, timber volume, health, condition and many other topics spanning all public, private, urban and rural woodland in Britain.
The information will help those planning to ensure that our forests can withstand expected changes in the climate, contribute to climate change mitigation and help society cope with some of the effects of climate change, such as flooding and heatwaves.
NFI information will also underpin a wide range of decisions about topics such as nature conservation, research, tree planting, forest and timber industries’ development and public recreation.
Peter Weston, Head of Inventory and Forecasting for the Forestry Commission, said, “We were able to use more sophisticated tools and techniques for gathering and interpreting woodland cover data than we have ever had since we began compiling forest inventories in the 1920s.
“As a result we have been able to identify smaller woodlands and pick up more areas where woodland has regenerated or been planted without our knowledge, and other areas where woodland has been lost or removed without our knowledge.
“The new equipment and techniques have also enabled us to ‘fine tune’ some of the data and correct honest mistakes in the previous inventory that inevitably occurred because we did not have the sophisticated resources then that are available to us now.”
Further information is available from www.forestry.gov.uk/inventory.
