Oak being muscled out by fir
October 3, 2008 2:22 PM
It seems, says Nick Harvey MP for North Devon, 'That the great British Oak is losing out to the fir here in the South West.'
'It has been brought to my attention that a plan to plant 5,000 hectares of new oak woodland in Devon by 2005 has singularly failed.'
'Notable traditional oak woodlands in North Devon at places such as Loxhore and Coxleigh are being replanted with fir not oak.'
'The Forestry Commission asserts that conifers do encourage biodiversity, but I remain unconvinced. Inevitably the requirements of timber production mean that land owners prefer faster growing tree species here in the South West, which can lead to an unsightly monotonous landscape.'
Further Information
Loxhore ancient oak woodland is being replaced with Douglas Fir, while at Coxleigh Wood the exact same thing has happened a £224,000 grant was approved to again replace oak with fir.
The proportion of conifer woodland created with grant support in the south West at 20% has been double that of the national average.
The Rio de Janeiro Biodiversity Agreement led to a Devon Biodiversity Action Plan BAP Devon, which set out a target of 5000 hectares of new oak woodland to be planted by 2005, but South West Forest's figures show barely half of that, was achieved and meanwhile the grant is only for firs.
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