Conquering the Highlands: A history of the afforestation of the Scottish uplands (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781922144782)

Deforestation of Scotland began millennia ago and by the early 20th century woodland cover was down to about 6 per cent of the total land area. A century later woodland cover had tripled. Most of the newly established forestry plantations were created on elevated land with wet peaty soils and high wind exposure, not exactly the condition in which forests naturally thrive. Jan Oosthoek tells in this book the story of how 20th century foresters devised ways to successfully reforest the poor Scottish uplands, land that was regarded as unplantable, to fulfil the mandate they had received from the Government and wider society to create a timber reserve. He raises the question whether the adopted forestry practice was the only viable means to create forests in the Scottish Highlands by examining debates within the forestry community about the appearance of the forests and their longterm ecological prospects. Finally, the book argues that the long held ecological convictions among foresters and pressure from environmentalists came together in the late 20th century to create more environmentally sensitive forestry.

Author: Jan Oosthoek
ISBN-10: 1922144789
ISBN-13: 9781922144782
Publisher: Anu Press
Language: English
Published: 02/01/2013
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.84h x 6.93w x 0.57d