The Forestry Commission has conducted similar surveys of public attitudes to forestry and forestry-related issues every two years since 1995. The most recent set of separate surveys was conducted in 2015 (in Scotland, Wales, and across the UK as a whole) and 2014 (in Northern Ireland). The full results are available on our website at www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-5zyl9w.

Questions were asked to gauge the public’s agreement on climate change issues, including on the ways in which forests and woodlands can impact on climate change. Some of the public views presented below do not reflect expert opinion.

The highest level of agreement was seen with the statement “trees are good because they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in wood”, with 73% of the UK public in 2015 agreeing (agree or strongly agree) (Figure 4.4). This compares with only 37% agreeing with the statement “using wood for fuel makes climate change worse because it releases carbon dioxide”.

Figure 4.4 Public opinion on ways in which forests and woodlands can impact on climate change

Source: UK Public Opinion of Forestry Survey 2015.

Base: 2,000 UK respondents.

These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics

Questions were also posed on how UK forests should be managed in response to the threat of climate change – see the survey reports for further details.