Meeting on cooperative management of small woods, 16 February 2016

摘要

This first (indoor) meeting of the Central Region programme for 2016 took place at the Forth Valley College, Stirling, and was well attended despite dismal weather outside. The theme was opportunities for cooperative management of small private woodlands within the region, with specific emphasis on those in Argyll. Many owners of small woods, including those on farms, find it difficult to bring them into active management due to high costs for advice and management, complexity of grant schemes and poor prices for small timber parcels. The standard response over the years to such problems in Scandinavia, and many other parts of Europe, has been the woodland owners co-operative, spreading costs for professional advice, suitable harvesting/extraction equipment and marketing timber from several woodlands. However, there has been a weaker tradition of such cooperation in Scotland. A number of organisations previously undertaking such work, including FWAG and Scottish Native Woods have since withdrawn, but machinery rings in Grampian, Tayside and Fife represent some fresh progress here.