Oosthoek, Jan. “Podcast 50: Conquering the Highlands. History of the Afforestation of the Scottish Uplands.” Exploring Environmental History Podcast, 26 March 2013. MP3, 30.53. http://www.eh-resources.org/podcast/podcast.html.
By the end of the nineteenth century, Scotland’s woodlands were reduced to about six percent of land cover. Over the course of the twentieth century, foresters worked to establish timber reserves in the Scottish Highlands, creating forests on marginal lands that were not easily adapted to forestry following millennia of deforestation. Using a variety of techniques and strategies drawn from modern forestry practices, the Scottish uplands were afforested in the twentieth century, tripling the forest cover. The creation of new forests to serve strategic and economic interests, however, altered the ecology of the Scottish uplands and eventually came into conflict with the interests of environmentalists in the late twentieth century.
Conquering the Highlands. History of the afforestation of the Scottish uplands (21.7 MB)
Music Credits: “Lark in the Morning. The Atholl Highlanders” by Sláinte, “Scotland the Brave” by Shake That Little Foot.
Exploring Environmental History podcasts are periodic programs featuring interviews with people working in the field, reports on conferences, and discussions about the use and methods of environmental history. They are posted on the Environmental History Resources website, which is maintained by Jan Oosthoek.
