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FORESTRY is forever swimming against the tide of public opinion. Do people love the fence posts and boutique furniture the industry produces? Yes. In fact, the more niche or expertly shaped the timber, the better. Do they love the plantations that produce them? Hell no.

Or maybe the public does love the forests that produce the UK’s timber, just so long as they are somewhere else. Preferably out of view. And only reachable by sea. On the second Sunday of November.

The world needs timber. It needs sustainably produced wood. Therefore, it follows that the crop must be grown somewhere, right?

That seems pretty obvious to FJ (and, we suspect, a large number of people reading this), but that doesn’t seem to be the case for much of the vociferous public when it comes to the UK’s commercial industry.

The Stobo Hope plantation in the Scottish Borders, now subject to a court battle

Everyone wants sustainably grown produce, just not in their neighbourhood.

Rather it seems those who spend their lives opposing planting plans would be quite happy for the UK to export the problems (as they see them) with commercial plantations to other countries.

In its most basic form, the argument appears to go a little like this: “No, no, we don’t want any of those ‘nature-killing’ conifers here, thank you very much. But it’s fine for them to grow in ‘Country X’. We’ll never visit it anyway. They can deal with the repercussions, and we’ll just ship their wood in.”

Woodlands, by their very nature, leave a mark on the landscape. They are a decades-long investment, and vast in scale. But they bring a myriad of benefits that will be here long after some of those who oppose them are gone.

This brings us nicely to the Stobo Hope woodland. For those who aren’t in the know, this is a 700-hectare plantation in the Scottish Borders made up of mainly Sitka spruce, which was given the greenlight by Scottish Forestry after thorough environmental considerations were undertaken.

Harry Humble, CEO of the investment firm behind the Stobo Hope plantation, said he was confident forestry's case would win out in court

At least that was the case until campaigners cried ‘fowl’ over the apparent damage the site will cause to the local grouse population, with SF’s approval now due to be challenged in Scotland’s Court of Session.

Foresters across the country will be watching on with worry at the precedent this could set.

Picture of the week

UNIFOREST has officially opened its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Slovenia.

More than 500 guests from across Europe and as far afield as Bhutan enjoyed a lavish ceremony in Latkova Vas on Thursday to celebrate the site, a stone’s throw from the manufacturer’s existing premises.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE