From Peat Bog to Conifer Forest

Centuries of exploitation reduced the tree-cover of Scotland to tiny fragments by 1900. However, during the twentieth century, as a result of large-scale planting of coniferous trees from North America, the woodland cover increased from 6% to a remarkable 17%. This afforestation was driven by the Forestry Commission at the bidding of governments which knew that home-grown timber was desperately needed after the two World Wars.

This book focuses on the associated social, agricultural and ecological changes to the Whitelee Plateau in Scotland, where Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire meet. Importantly, it contains an in-depth Oral History presenting the experiences of the community which lived and worked in the area, and of the conscientious officials whose job it was to buy the moorland and convert it to forest. Both local people and foresters describe how their lives changed when they became involved in preparing and planting Whitelee Forest and, while the tree monoculture grew, the whole landscape and its ecology changed dramatically. For a while the Forestry Commission focused on other priorities which resulted in Whitelee being virtually abandoned. Now, in the present century, the Commission has placed a heavier emphasis on conservation, amenity and recreation for members of the public from the major urban conurbations not far away, and space has been made within the Forest for wind turbines to generate electricity with the necessary infrastructure of roads, and a visitor centre.

This is an important case study of modern landscape change which will interest not only local people in the area concerned, but students of nature conservation, land management and professional environmentalists. It also shows the importance of oral history in recording, warts and all, what happened to a bleak landscape and a dour farming existence.