Trees and Wildlife in the Scottish uplands

Forestry and its effects on our countryside are very much in the news. The concern of Scottish ecologists was expressed through the organization of at least 3 conferences during November and early December 1985. Our meeting is just one of them. It is nonetheless timely, and it brings together a wider range of people than the other 2 meetings. The first, organized by the Scottish Ornithologists' Club, discussed the interactions of commercial forestry with birds. The second, under the auspices of the Countryside Commission for Scotland, was concerned mainly with broadleaved trees. We are concerned with wider aspects, including both birds and broadleaved trees, although primarily with conifer plantations in the Scottish uplands. However, it is impossible to consider the impact of any aspect of afforestation in isolation; forestry in the Scottish uplands is not a separate industry from forestry in the lowlands, and the industry is international. The concern of foresters to integrate their management policy with the requirements of the rest of the rural community is obvious. The new policy of the Forestry Commission with regard to broadleaved trees has arisen at least partly as a result of public concern. The economic demand for more home-produced timber may be satisfied only by planting up open hillsides and spoiling views which many people have come to regard as part of their heritage. It may be necessary, though this is still unproven, to afforest part of the habitat of upland birds which are rare in Britain. Decisions on some of these points may be political, but the widespread public concern remains. This concern is about integrating the need for timber with maintaining the richness of the Scottish upland countryside, of which the forests are very much a part. Nature conservationists and animal and plant ecologists already haye a great deal of practical knowledge on the management of semi-natural habitats, but their knowledge of the fauna of commercial forests is, in some cases, not as great as they would wish. The purpose of this meeting is to bring together foresters, conservationists and other ecologists to discuss the status and future growth of Scottish forests, to identify ways in which forests can be managed to optimize their conservation of wildlife and amenity and recreation values, and to learn from experience elsewhere. If gaps in our knowledge are exposed, discussion of them will help this Institute of the Natural Environment Research Council in planning a programme of research on the requirements for managing woodland for wildlife and amenity in British uplands, and lay the foundations for future co-operation with foresters and other ecologists