Fine forests and wonderful woods honoured

25 June 2018

The very best forests and woodlands have been honoured in Scotland’s annual ‘Tree Oscars’.

The winners of the 2018 Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards were chosen from an “outstanding” year of entries, according to the judges.

The Awards - supported by Confor and a wide range of other forestry stakeholders - honour the contributions made by woodland to people, the environment and the economy.

Winners from across Scotland – from Galloway in the south-west to Braemar in the north-east – received their awards from Fergus Ewing MSP, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity at the Royal Highland Show.

Mr Ewing said: “New figures have shown that Scotland is responsible for almost 80 per cent of new forest and woodland creation in the UK. This is testament to the value and importance of our £1 billion forestry and timber industry and the economic, environmental and social contribution it makes.  

“But behind all of this success, there are talented and passionate people whose dedication creates woodland resources for our communities, woodland habitats for our wildlife and woodland resources for our forest industries.

Angela Douglas, Executive Director of Scotland’s Finest Woods, said: “This has been an outstanding year, with a very high quality and wide variety of entries. The addition of the Farm Woodland Award has been a tremendous success, with a superb set of entries reflected in a winner, plus a highly commended and a commended entry."