Forest resilience

Climate change is creating new threats to nature in Scotland. Rising temperatures and severe weather can pose risks to trees. International travel also lets pests and diseases spread to new areas.

These threats mean we are taking action to ensure Scotland’s forests are as robust as possible.

Threats? What threats?

Looking at a fully grown tree it can be hard to imagine how it could be in danger. It’s important to know that small changes can have big effects. In the past 30 years we’ve seen changes to our weather such as warmer temperatures and more extreme conditions. These changes impact the growing conditions for our trees through:

  • heavier rain and flooding
  • higher wind gusts and extreme storms
  • hotter summers
  • drought and wildfires
  • increased spread of pests and disease 

Rising temperatures and increased travel also help pests and diseases find new areas. One example of this is Phytophthora Ramorum - a disease that kills larch trees. We can’t cure this disease, only slow the spread by cutting down infected trees. This has meant huge areas of forest have been felled. Whilst we’ll re-establish these forests with new trees it’s far from ideal.

Ash dieback affects ash trees across Scotland and the rest of the UK. Beetles can cause damage to spruce trees - an important species for the timber industry. Fungal disease damages pines.

These events cause damage beyond just trees. Cutting down trees can cause danger to people, animals and infrastructure. Dying trees impact wildlife in the local area. On unforested land, heavy rains can:

  • displace vital soils
  • cause erosion
  • increase the risk of flooding downstream 

These threats could cause significant problems if left unmanaged. 

Forests for tomorrow

How we're making our forests more resilient

We’re looking at many factors at how we can make our forests more resilient to climate change. We’re doing this by implementing the following techniques, where we can:

We work with many organisations across the country to use best practice for our forestry. As we learn more through experience and research we'll adapt how we manage Scotland’s forests. This makes sure they thrive in the future.

How resilient forests can help with climate change

We’re planning our forests around specific issues such as: