Scotland and ecosystem collapse – 8% of the UK population but 60% of the trees and 76% of tree planting

Ash trees with ash dieback are felled in Gloucestershire, England. The disease has killed up to eight out of 10 of the UK’s ash trees. Photograph: Nick Upton/Alamy

In the Guardian today:

UK forests are heading for “catastrophic ecosystem collapse” within the next 50 years due to multiple threats including disease, extreme weather and wildfires, researchers have warned, with trees dying on a large scale.

The government plans to plant 30,000 hectares of forest every year by 2025, which is double current planting rates. The UK is one of the least forested European countries, with a total coverage of 13%. A 2021 report from the Woodland Trust found that just 7% of the UK’s native woodland was in good condition.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/uk-forests-face-catastrophic-ecosystem-collapse-within-50-years-study-says-aoe

There’s no mention of Scotland in this ‘UK as England‘ report.

Here are some facts on Scotland to change how the above reads.

First, from State of Nature 2023:

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://stateofnature.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/TP25999-State-of-Nature-main-report_2023_FULL-DOC-v12.pdf

So, 8% of the population but 60% of the trees.

Second, 8% of the UK population but 76% of the new tree planting.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://cdn.forestresearch.gov.uk/2022/09/Ch1_Woodland_2022.pdf

Third, 20 times the tree-planting of Labour Wales:

https://www.confor.org.uk/news/latest-news/scotland-leads-way-on-uk-tree-planting-but-misses-target/

4 thoughts on “Scotland and ecosystem collapse – 8% of the UK population but 60% of the trees and 76% of tree planting”

  1. You can’t expect the UK media to report the truth on this – they’re so busy focussing on anti-Scotland stories that they literally can’t see the forests for the trees.

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  3. Quite annoying. I read on Euronews today that U.K. has very few trees (along with Netherlands) .. so Scotland, with twice as many trees as England, is listed as seriously de-forested. Still, that’s what you get for voting No.

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  4. Pingback: 8% of the population but nearly 16% of foreign direct investment and 10 years of leading all UK regions other than London but it’s not big news – Talking-up Scotland [Collective]

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