Can principles of common high forest silvicultural systems be applied to managing trees that make up the UK urban forest?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Around 8% of the total land area in the UK is defined as urban, with around 83.4% of the total population living within these areas. In the UK, the management of woodlands and forests is governed by the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS), self-certified as the “ … reference standard for sustainable forest management in the UK”. However, the urban forest has no comparable national standard. With an increasing need to manage urban trees sustainably, a fit-for-purpose approach is required to promote sustainable, consistent and efficient urban tree population management. Generally, the approach to urban tree management is not cohesive and not related to any standard. Conversely, the principles of high forest silvicultural management are well publicised and adopted. Within forest management, an approach has been championed for its benefit to wildlife, commercial timber and ecosystem services; that of Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF). CCF is not a system, but instead, an approach used to attain set objectives (such as biodiversity and timber production). This research has shown a CCF approach can be directly applied to the urban forest. However, to successfully apply the principles, limitations must be overcome at national and local planning levels.