Forestry and Landscape Change in 20th Century Scotland
Channel: Jan Oosthoek
Date: 2014-09-09

An interview with environmental historian Jan Oosthoek about the history of modern forestry in Scotland. He talks about the development of modern forestry in Scotland from the aristocratic estates that planted imported "exotic" trees in the 19th century  trough the wood shortages of the First World War and the creation of the Forestry Commission. The video discusses the significant role of the British Forestry Commission in influencing the appearance, nature and use of the Scottish landscape in the 20th century. It highlights that Scotland had a low forest cover at the start of the 20th century and how the use of a variety of techniques and strategies drawn from modern forestry practices, tripled the forest cover in less than hundred years. The creation of new forests to serve strategic and economic interests, however, altered the ecology of the Scottish uplands and eventually was criticised by environmentalists and others as treating tree plantations as a crop.

The interview was recorded in July 2008 at the University of Edinburgh as part of a distance learning masters programme in Landscape, Environment and History,which ran between 2009 and 2013.