Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards is marking 40 years of celebrating all that is great about the country’s woodlands and forests.
The Awards celebrate the people involved across all types of Scotland’s woodlands who through their dedication make them the finest examples of a key national natural resource.
The Awards started at a time when many of the large estates employed their own foresters, and they focused on growing quality timber.
These woodlands provide us with many of the examples of quality woodlands we have today. Commercial forests cover about one million hectares of Scotland and contribute £1.1bn GVA, employing more than 10,000 people.
Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards are unique because they demonstrate the broad range of forestry across Scotland, with the strong origins in productive forestry as well as other great examples of woodland management across society.
Origins of the awards
In 1985, a notice in Scottish Forestry, the Royal Scottish Forestry Society’s (RSFS) Journal announced: “A new scheme of forestry awards is being instituted by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland with the support of the Forestry Commission, Timber Growers U.K. (Scotland), the Royal Scottish Forestry Society and the Institute of Chartered Foresters.
“The purpose of the scheme is to focus public attention on the increasing importance of the forestry industry in the rural and national economy; to give credit to the best achievements of forestry management for the production of timber; to encourage owners to make provision for the enhancement of the landscape, conservation of the natural habitat, recreation, public access and integration with other land use.”
And thus, Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards were born. The first competitions were held in 1986. Then, in 1999, a fuller partnership developed to include a number of forestry and environmental organisations to better reflect contemporary woodland management and Scotland’s rapidly developing forest industry. Finally, an independent charity was established in 2005 to run the awards.
A broad focus
Simon MacGillivray was a director when the Scotland’s Finest Woods was set up as a standalone charity in 2005. He and his colleagues saw this as a point where the focus had to broaden from not just timber production and farming to schools and the community, including the Tim Stead Trophy.
The Gardening Scotland Show at Ingliston was chosen as the new venue for the awards ceremony, with some added celebrity. Simon said: “We wanted a public audience for forestry, using the RSFS stall.
“Jim McColl from the (BBC) Beechgrove Garden gave the awards and when you get that celebrity it mixes well with the public. They got involved and were able to ask for advice about trees in their gardens.
“Jim McColl was a star for us and would go out with me to schools as well.”
Charlie Taylor is a three-time winner and then became a judge, allowing him to the see the benefits of entering from both sides.
His wins came with his work with the then Forestry Commission Scotland – the Hunter Blair Trophy for Silvicultural Excellence for Faskally Forest, Perthshire in 1996, and the John Kennedy Trophy for Multi-purpose Forestry for Allean Forest in 2000 and Kinnoull Woodland Park, Perth in 2003.
He sees the wins as a team effort, something he noticed as a judge in the Quality Timber section, which has made him positive about the future.
He said: “You are there as a judge to have a conversation and share knowledge. In the last few years there has been a lot of new, younger forest managers, sharing their experience.
“One of the things for people in forestry is they don’t tend to blow their own trumpet. Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards gives folk recognition.”
Still growing
For 2025, there is a new category of Urban Forestry, as well as the existing categories of Quality Timber, Farm Woodland, New Native Wood, Community Woodland, Climate Change and Schools and Early Years.
Shireen Chambers MBE FICFor was also once a judge for the awards, and is now Chief Executive of Future Woodlands Scotland, which has just been announced as the sponsor of the new Urban Forestry Award.
She agrees that judges can benefit entrants, and has some fond memories of visiting all types of woodland. “We judged everything,” she said. “We took a week and did a tour of Scotland – it was a hoot!
“It was interesting to see different approaches and you could compare … a community woodland in Nairn to one in Dumfries, and you could then suggest things.”
Shireen is very excited about the new award. She said: “Scotland is one of the most urban-centric countries in the world; over 80% live in the Central Belt. Getting kids out and understanding urban forestry is important, it can be where they get their only education about trees.”
Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform & Islands, presented many of the Awards last year.
She said: “Forty years of the Scottish Finest Woods Awards is a fantastic achievement – and I want to congratulate everyone involved.
“It’s no wonder that the awards are thriving and that is down to the passion and dedication of all those who work so hard across all aspects of forestry and woodlands in Scotland.
“It’s fantastic to see the categories for the awards grow, showcasing the wide variety of great work taking place across both rural and urban Scotland. It’s particularly great to see the involvement and recognition of the work young people are doing, hopefully as they become our foresters of the future.”
Jean Nairn, Executive Director of Scotland’s Finest Woods, said the future looks bright: “The Trustees remain committed to encourage the good management of all types of woodland in Scotland.
“Our roots in recognising the best practice and importance of Quality Timber have grown to champion all forms of woodland and forestry, whether a school or urban wood, a farm woodland, new native wood or community project – all with the underlying importance of trying to mitigate the climate emergency.”
Enter Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards 2025 now
Schools and Early Years entries closed on March 31, 2025. All other entries must be submitted by 23:59 on Saturday May 31, 2025.
For full details, criteria and entry forms see: www.sfwa.co.uk
