Principle 10

Principle 10 addresses a range of practical issues, all of which must be dealt with appropriately and well both to ensure the achievement of management objectives and to avoid negative social, environmental and economic impacts.

This Principle requires owners and managers to choose and implement their management activities so that they are consistent with their economic, environmental and social policies and objectives and in compliance with the Principles and Criteria collectively.

Background: forest cover in the UK

• By the beginning of the 20th century, our forest cover had dwindled to around 5% of our land area. Much of this area had been continuously wooded for a very long time, and was in various types and intensities of traditional management, but there were also plantations established by private landowners.
   
• The last 100 years have seen a huge increase in woodland area, which now stands at over 13 % for the UK as a whole. The vast majority of that woodland expansion was by planting, mostly with non-native conifer species.
   
• Prior to the introduction of The Policy for Broadleaved Woodlands by the Forestry Commission in 1985, native broadleaves had been replaced with faster growing non-native conifers on some sites, leaving us with a legacy of plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS). 
   
• Today, 51 % of UK woodland area is made up of conifers (some of which is native Scots pine). One introduced species, Sitka spruce, now makes up more than a quarter of all UK woodland, more than any other single species (for more information, see the latest edition of Forestry Statistics from Forest Research).
   
• The huge expansion of UK woodland area by planting in the last century has effected the current balance of species and the structure of most of our forests. The planting of large areas in short periods of time, especially in the uplands, resulted in uniform blocks of the same age. While a range of scales and intensities of harvesting and regeneration have been practised in the lowlands, in the uplands a combination of windier conditions and poorer soils and the associated risk of wind damage to trees have been seen as limiting the scope to diversify the structure of even-aged areas. Large even-aged stands of trees, high wind risk and mechanisation of harvesting have perpetuated a system of clearfelling in many upland forests. Here structural diversity is often achieved at the forest level, with shifting patches of open ground and stands of a range of ages, rather than within individual stands.

Criteria 10.1 to 10.5 in the UK context

All of the above, and more, helps to put Criteria 10.1 to 10.5 into context in the UK. What we say about species choice has to take account of the realities of the current composition of our forests. We also have to think about the resilience of our forests to climate change, pests and diseases. Unfortunately, opinion is divided as to whether we should address resilience by emphasising the ecological adaptation of native species or the diversification of non-native species.

Indicator 10.2.1 The range of species selected for new woodlands, and natural or artificial regeneration of existing woodlands shall be suited to the site and shall take into consideration:

• Improvement of long-term forest resilience

• Management objectives

• Requirements for conservation and enhancement of biodiversity (see [Principles 6 and 9])

• Requirements for enhancement and restoration of habitats (see [Principles 6 and 9])

• Landscape character. [UKWAS 2.8.1(a)]

Maximum and minimum percentage requirements for different groups of species were removed from the current version of our national standard, UKWAS 4, on the basis that this ‘forestry by numbers’ approach often resulted in perverse outcomes in practice. The standard instead emphasises the need to select a range of species, and to take account of resilience and biodiversity; whatever the exact approach taken by the owner/manager, this should result in diversification of species.

One topic which has arisen during the development of UKWAS 5 is that of natural regeneration of non-native conifers. While owners/managers might welcome this in parts of the forest, it might be unwelcome on open habitats or in semi-natural woodland, whether inside or adjacent to the forest area. This is one of the factors to take into account in the ‘enhancement and restoration of habitats’.

Just as UKWAS 4 is not prescriptive about species composition, it is also not prescriptive about silvicultural approaches. (There is a specific percentage requirement for long-term retentions and/or areas managed under lower impact silvicultural systems in FSC indicator 6.6.2/UKWAS 4.6.2, but this as a measure to benefit biodiversity rather than as a more general management approach.) Instead, there is a recognition of the wide range of factors which must be considered when making management decisions, and a general steer towards lower-impact approaches:

• Indicator 10.5.1 Appropriate silvicultural systems shall be adopted which are suited to species, sites, wind risk, tree health risks and management objectives and which stipulate soundly-based planting, establishment, thinning, felling and regeneration plans. [UKWAS 2.10.1(a)]
   

• Indicator 10.5.2 Where species, sites, wind risk, tree health risk and management objectives allow, a range of silvicultural approaches, and in particular lower impact silvicultural systems, shall be adopted with the aim of diversifying ages, species and stand structures. [UKWAS 2.10.1(b)]

The group which developed UKWAS 4 did not feel that it was feasible to impose specific limits on clearfelling given the realities of upland forestry, but more stringent requirements were applied to semi-natural woodland to help preserve its conservation value:

• Indicator 10.5.3 In semi-natural woodland lower impact silvicultural systems shall be adopted. All felling shall be in accordance with the specific guidance for that type of woodland in the relevant Forestry Commission Practice Guide. [UKWAS 2.10.2(a)]
   

• Indicator 10.5.4 In semi-natural woodlands over 10 ha, no more than 10% shall be felled in any five-year period unless justified in terms of biodiversity enhancement or lower impact. [UKWAS 2.10.2(b)]

It is important to note that some traditional management practices which can have significant biodiversity benefits, most obviously coppicing, can require the felling of quite significant areas in order to introduce enough light to the forest floor. Achieving this in practice is not always straightforward, however.

We welcome engagement in the UKWAS review and revision process from any and all workers – whether direct employees, contractors, sub-contractors or volunteers – to ensure that their distinct needs are represented in the most effective way possible in the next version of the standard. We hope UKWAS will continue to challenge UK foresters to rethink their heavy reliance on a narrow range of introduced species, typically planted as single species stands, and on the system of clearfelling and replanting. A signiciant move towards continuous forestry approaches would be aligned with the Soil Association's position on Regenerative Forestry.

- Clive Thomas, Senior Policy Adviser (Forestry), Soil Association