We create Continuous Cover Forests.
To produce timber, as a home for wildlife and a place for people.
We buy land to plant new forests and transform existing forests to Continuous Cover.
We do this by joining with investors who want to make a positive impact in the world and a financial return.
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What are Continuous Cover Forests?
UK commercial forests are mostly managed through a method called ‘clear-fell’. Here large areas of land are planted at the same time with generally the same species, grow for a few decades and are then felled together. This cycle between monologue forest and wasteland is then repeated. It produces timber but at the expense of biodiversity, landscape and amenity value.
However forests can produce timber at the same time as being biodiverse, enhancing the landscape and having high amenity value. That’s where Continuous Cover Forests come in. In simple terms they work by only cutting down a small percentage of trees at a time which creates a mixed aged forest that always feels like a forest.
At Diverse Forests we’re passionate about creating more continuous cover forests. We believe continuous cover forests can also be more financially successful than clear-fell by using the superior amenity value to develop tourist accommodation.
Continuous cover advantages over clear-fell:
» High in biodiversity
» High landscape/amenity value
» Regular timber income
» Forest maintains capital value
» Store more carbon
» More adaptable to climate change
» Recover more quickly from disease
» Less damage and erosion to soils
How we started
The Original Forest
We bought land in Scotland to create a continuous cover forest in 2021.
It was sheep grazing land with a small amount of old semi-natural woodland. We were awarded a tree planting grant of £200k and planted 60,000 trees in Winter 2022/23. The aim is to grow high quality timber like Oak, Wild Cherry, Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar.
Knock Burn Wood
In 2022 we bought our second forest (or the first piece of land already covered mostly by trees!). We’re in the process of converting the forest to continuous cover and applying for planning permission for accommodation.
About Us
Chris Smithard, Founder
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Interested in finding out more about continuous cover forests?
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