Woodland Resilience Tax Credit Explained

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In: economy, environment, forestry, policy, thinkpiece

UK tree planting targets demand new funding approaches. While past forestry tax relief led to disastrous monocultures, a modern Woodland Resilience Tax Credit offers a smarter path. By tying fiscal rewards directly to verified ecological management, we can mobilise long-term private capital for climate-resilient, multifunctional woodlands.Continue Reading

The case for a woodland management plan

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In: forestry, policy, thinkpiece, woodland owners

In this two-part thinkpiece series, Gabriel Hemery explores whether the UK needs a national woodland register and management planning duties. The series examines how policy can bridge information gaps, safeguard continuity across changes of ownership, and recognise deliberate non-intervention as active, responsible woodland stewardship.Continue Reading

UK woodlands: a case for a register

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In: forestry, policy, thinkpiece, woodland owners

With UK woodland registration incomplete and management records dispersed, this thinkpiece explores whether a dedicated woodland register could bridge the information gap. It examines four policy tiers—from basic contacts to management duties—weighing potential benefits for landscape-scale action and continuity against risks of administrative burden, enforcement friction, and mistrust.Continue Reading

two future three scenarios

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In: climate crisis, environment, forestry, policy, science, thinkpiece

The UKs forestry plans assume one climate future: hotter and drier. But an AMOC collapse could bring the opposite, colder, stormier winters instead. This thinkpiece tests both scenarios against three common woodland types, commercial Sitka, ancient semi-natural woodland, and new farm planting, and asks whether today’s decisions would survive either climate scenario.Continue Reading

Risk scenario forestry cartoon

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In: climate crisis, environment, policy, science, thinkpiece

UK forestry faces dual climate futures: a hotter, drier scenario or a potentially cooler one due to the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Recent research suggests the latter is increasingly plausible, necessitating a shift in species selection, provenance strategies, and silvicultural systems to ensure forest resilience amid changing conditions.Continue Reading

Risk categories

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In: climate crisis, forestry, policy, thinkpiece

This thinkpiece explores the interconnected risks facing human civilisation, particularly in the context of ecological collapse and national security. It emphasises that risks such as leadership failure, infrastructure fragility, pandemics, and artificial intelligence are interlinked and drive compounding crises, necessitating a holistic approach to resilience in planning and decision-making.Continue Reading

Forests and National Security

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In: agroforestry, climate crisis, environment, policy, thinkpiece

In early 2026, the Cabinet Office released a summary of a JIO national security assessment on global ecosystem collapse. In this speculative foresight thinkpiece, silvologist Gabriel Hemery explores the redacted layers—examining how British forests shift from passive assets to critical biological infrastructure.Continue Reading