Climate Change and Future Forestry
Climate Change and Future Forestry
Canals, railways and roads brought an era of cheap transport.
Now the UK transport system is overloaded and fuel costs are expensive. Would it be more sustainable to again produce resources in smaller local operations, closer to the end-user?
The Northmoor Trust manages a forestry research plantation, Paradise Wood. It breeds trees to provide local substitutes for imported hardwood timber and to thrive in the changing climates of the future.
Britain is the second least wooded country in Europe, and Oxfordshire is one of its least wooded counties. Forestry and woodlands currently cover 8% of the land area of England.
In the Wittenham area the dominant species are oak and ash (approximately 75%), and hazel, sycamore and beech (approximately 20%).
Climate Change and Timber Production
- Climate change threatens a global and local shortage of timber.
- Extreme weather events increase the possibility of damage from drought frost, storms or forest fires.
- Warmer winters are likely to affect the populations of pests and pathogens, with a possible increased incidence of disease.
- Trees planted today face unpredictable rates of climate change while they mature, hence additional alternative species - native and non-native – capable of thriving in the UK need to be investigated and promoted.
