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A SENIOR forestry official in Wales has told the country's foresters to "bite the bullet" and experiment with tree species selection. 

Andrew Wright wants to see a more diverse range of saplings planted in a bid to prepare the nation's woodlands for the future effects of climate change. 

His comments come after the publication of Natural Resources Wales' (NRW) Corporate Plan to 2030, which makes multiple mentions of how woodlands will evolve in the next few decades.

READ MORE: Forestry's future placed under the spotlight at Royal Welsh Show

Among other points, forestry officials are looking to gradually change "the trees on planted ancient woodland sites to species that better reflect their nature conservation and cultural value". They have also pledged to "secure the timber producing potential of the Welsh Government Woodland Estate". 

Speaking to Forestry Journal at last month's Royal Welsh Show, the NRW chief said: "From a forestry perspective and the land that is in our care, the issue people are talking about is climate change, and the impact that will have – and what we are doing.

"We are looking to diversify our species. We want to change our silvicultural practices. We won’t have one single woodlands that is managed for one single thing. 

"I am looking for the teams at NRW to bite the bullet and see how species grow on their patch. It is worth taking the punt. We are not putting all our eggs into one basket, but let's do a bit of that." 

Like England, Wales is predominately made up of broadleaf species, with these accounting for 173,000 hectares of planted woodland in the country. Conversely, conifers make up around 139,000 ha, and work is actively ongoing to replace some of the nation's softwood forests with hardwood species. 

"We will have certain woodlands that are managed for production and fairly similar to what we have now," added the senior specialist advisor tree health and knowledge transfer at NRW. "But we will have continuous cover forestry in some areas, and the restoration of ancient woodlands."