Webinar: Understanding drought risk for UK woodland creation and forestry

Woodland creation is central to meeting the UK’s ambitions for climate change mitigation, nature recovery, and ecosystem service enhancement. Yet increasingly extreme and variable climate patterns are putting pressure on newly planted and established woodlands alike.

Traditional guidance such as the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) and decision support tools like the Ecological Site Classification (ESC) provide a foundation for species–site matching, but they rely on long term climate averages. As a result, they don’t fully capture the growing impact of extreme seasonal events.

Recent research highlights the scale of the challenge: severe droughts—once expected roughly every 16 years—are now projected to occur every five years in the 2020s–2030s, and as often as every three years by the 2060s–2070s. With reduced soil water availability during hotter, drier summers, many land managers are already witnessing significant losses in newly planted stock.

Over the past five years, Forest Research scientists have worked to strengthen our understanding of climate risk, developing frameworks to assess species resilience and identify the sites most vulnerable to drought.

What to Expect

This webinar will provide key updates from recent research exploring drought impacts on UK forestry. Topics will include:

• Seedling responses to drought and implications for early establishment
• New findings on drought impacts in Sitka spruce
• Development of drought risk indices for UK forestry
• The upgrade of the Ecological Site Classification (ESC) system to better support climate smart decision making

A short Q&A session will follow the presentations. Attendees will be invited to complete an online questionnaire to share feedback and help shape future research priorities.