As the extent of the damage from winter storms on trees across Great Britain is revealed for the first time, woodland owners have been encouraged to plant and manage more diverse and resilient forests of varying ages and species in the face of climate change. Source: Timberbiz
Updated Forest Research assessments released show almost 12,750 hectares of tree loss was caused by storms last winter in Great Britain, with approximately 3,350 hectares of damage recorded in England.
The damage overall is relatively modest equating to around 0.2% of England’s tree cover and will not impact on tree planting targets. Over 90% of trees which fall as a result of storm damage will be replanted, meaning only a small percent of forest is actually lost in the long term where it is not possible to restock.
In light of the findings, Sir William Worsley, Chair of the Forestry Commission, has called for landowners and forest managers to consider planting more diverse and resilient tree species and better designed woodlands in the face of a changing climate. Their long-term prosperity will depend on their resilience to threats caused by climate change, such as stronger gales, drought, emerging pests and diseases, evolving weather patterns and more frequent, severe weather events.
He said the woodlands of the future need to be planted and managed differently if they are to not only survive but thrive in the future.
The tree loss figures were made up of assessments of the damage using a combination of satellite imaging techniques and machine learning. An additional citizen science project was then carried out, where foresters, land managers and landowners could report the damage on the ground. This project, combined with improvements to the machine learning algorithms used within the satellite data and mapping work, allowed smaller areas of damage (less than 0.5ha) to be captured. This significantly improved the accuracy of the damage assessment.
