Forestry Commission

Government department responsible for forestry in Britain. Established in 1919, it is responsible for over 1 million hectares/2.7 million acres of land, and is funded partly by government and partly by sales of timber. In Northern Ireland responsibility for forestry lies with the Department of Agriculture's forestry service.

Between 1945 and 1980 the Forestry Commission doubled the forest area in the UK, planting, for example, Kielder Forest, Cumbria. In 1991 woodland cover was estimated at 2.3 million hectares, around 10% of total land area. This huge increase has been achieved mainly by planting conifers for commercial use on uplands or on land difficult to farm. In spite of such massive afforestation, around 90% of the UK's timber needs are imported at an annual cost of some £4 billion.