Conifers - Forest Research

Table 1.6 presents the area of conifers, broken down by age class, ownership and country.

Sixty-one percent of the coniferous woodland area in Great Britain was occupied by stands of 40 years old or younger (Table 1.6). A further 9% of stands were aged over 60 years.

Table 1.6 Stocked woodland area in GB by ownership and age class: Conifers
Age class (years)	England	Wales	Scotland	GB
thousand hectares
FC¹
0-20	33	24	76	134
21-40	38	25	145	208
41-60	39	25	111	176
61-80	12	7	25	44
81-100	4	1	6	11
100+	1	0	3	4
All age classes	128	82	367	576
Private sector²
0-20	17	8	126	151
21-40	54	22	231	306
41-60	83	15	116	214
61-80	19	1	18	38
81-100	3	2	6	11
100+	3	1	9	12
All age classes	179	47	505	732
Total
0-20	51	32	202	285
21-40	92	46	376	514
41-60	123	39	227	389
61-80	31	8	43	82
81-100	7	2	12	22
100+	3	1	12	16
All age classes	307	129	872	1 308

Source: National Forest Inventory: 50-year forecast of softwood availability (Forestry Commission, April 2014), (supporting data).

Notes:

1. FC: Forestry Commission (England, Scotland and Wales).

2. Private sector: all other woodland. Includes woodland previously owned/managed by the Countryside Council for Wales and the Environment Agency in Wales, other publicly owned woodland (e.g. owned by local authorities) and privately owned woodland.

3. Stocked area only: excludes felled areas and (for private sector land) open space.

4. Areas at 31 March 2012.

These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics