Managing Woodland

Sustainable Timber
Management

The United Kingdom was

once largely covered
with woodland, but over
many centuries it was
cleared to meet the
needs of a growing
population.

Coppice
remnant

Currently, only one tenth of the land area of

the UK is covered by forest or other wooded
areas but more than 80% of all forests are
available for wood supply, with the
remainder protected for conservation
reasons.
Careful management has made it possible to
make use of the forest resource in a
sustainable manner without destroying the
particular features of the ecosystem.

Many of the UKs woodland trees show signs of

long term human management

Photo: David Craig www.strum.co.uk

Managing Woodlands

Different Logging Methods

Different logging methods have
different effects on the structure of
a forest ecosystem. The two
common methods used are:
Clear-felling (or clear-cutting) results
in the soil being exposed to erosion
and less diverse regrowth.
Selective logging has many variations,
including a focus on particular species
or thinning of small trees.
Types of selective logging include
harvesting:
Single scattered trees
Trees above a specified girth

Clear Cutting
A selection of mature forest is selected for removal
based on tree height, girth, or species.
During clear cutting, the understorey is destroyed
and a new forest of economically desirable trees
may be planted.
The trees may be of a single species and may even be clones.

A mature plantation forest

is selected for harvesting

All the trees

are removed

Seedlings of the same

species are replanted

Selective Logging
Trees are selected for removal from a mature forest
based on their height, girth, or species.
These trees are felled individually and directed to
fall in such a way as to minimize the damage to the
surrounding younger trees.
Continual regeneration of young seedlings provides a balance of tree ages that mirrors the
Usually, the trees are
natural age structure.

Mature trees are preselected for harvesting

repaced with seedlings

of the same species

The trees are removed

with minimal

Coppicing
Coppicing is the ancient practice of
harvesting wood for weaving, thatching,
firewood, or for making charcoal.
A selection of deciduous trees are coppiced (cut close to the ground) leaving stumps
known as stools.
Each stool subsequently regrows as many stems and it is these stems that provide the
wood for harvesting in the future.

A mature deciduous
forest is selected

The trees are coppiced

Many stems
regrow from each
stool