England spruce surveys identify 26,000 tonnes for potential removal
First-year assessments covered more than 2,450 hectares, with landowners planning proactive felling to reduce bark-beetle risk.
The Forestry Commission said 41 Spruce Site Assessment agreements had supported surveys of more than 2,450 hectares in the scheme’s first year. Assessors identified high-risk spruce in every agreement.
Surveys identified an estimated 26,000 tonnes that could be removed. Landowners plan to remove 60% of the surveyed spruce within 12 months of their survey dates. These are prospective removals, not timber already harvested or committed to pallet manufacture.
The £2,000 assessment grant remains open with limited places. It applies to eligible landowners and managers in England’s proactive spruce removal area. Seventeen assessed sites have subsequently accessed tree health pilot funding for proactive felling.
The update concerns management of timber resources threatened by Ips typographus; it does not establish pallet-timber availability or prices. Image: Forestry Commission, via GOV.UK, Open Government Licence.
Source attribution
- Source organisation
- Forestry Commission
- Original date
- 20 Oct 2026
- Published by us
- 20 Oct 2026
Pallet News publishes a short original summary only. Copyright in the original update remains with the publishing organisation.
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