This book has three main themes. The first is to describe the British forestry industry and how it arrived at its present state. We consider this to be a fascinating story in its own right, but also a prerequisite for informed comment on the relationship between forestry and nature conservation. The second theme is to describe the effects of forestry on birds. This involves not only describing the birds which live in commercial forests but also the birds of treeless areas which are affected by afforestation. These data are at the heart of any assessment of the net effect of forestry on birds. The third theme of the book is that of measuring conservation value. This theme grew during the writing of the book and plays an important part in it. Even if we knew, perfectly, what changes occurred in Britain due to forstry how would we decide whether or not they represented a net conservation gain or a net loss? We do not claim to know all the answers. To anyone outside the acrimonious debate, or slanging match, between foresters and conservationists, this book may seem to cover fairly tame ground. However, we know that we risk stirring up a hornets' nest. We expect to be criticized from both sides of the current divide. So, for the record, we regard this book as being both pro-forestry and pro-conservation and it is a sad comment on the current situation that we know many conservationists and many foresters who regard such a position as impossible. We regard futher afforestation in Britain as both desirable and inevitable, but what is also desirable, and on past performance far from inevitable, is that forestry should take full account of conservation value in both the planning stage and as part of routine forest management.
2 (Waldbau) 148.2 (Aves (Vögel)) 907.12 (Schutz von Pflanzen und Bäumen, Schutzgebiete usw.) 907.13 (Schutz von Wild und Vögeln, Schutzgebiete usw.) [410] (Vereinigtes Königreich von Grossbritannien und Nordirland)
