Falling tree nursery production illustrates sector’s confidence woes

By Jack Haugh, Deputy Editor
UK Forestry Journal
May 11, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: International

UK — The significant decline in the number of trees produced by Britain’s nurseries provides a “stark illustration” of the sector’s ‘falling’ confidence, an industry leader has said. Around 139 million trees were grown in the UK’s private and public nurseries across 2025/26, a sharp fall on previous years. In both 2024/25 and 2023/24, nurseries grew slightly over 160 million trees, with 2022/23 totalling slightly under 152 million. This means the total number of trees produced fell by around 14% between 2024/25 and 2025/26. …The findings were contained with the Forestry Commission’s new Tree Supply report – published in late April – which pointed to reduced planting expectations in Scotland as being a major cause of the decline. Stuart Goodall, chief executive at industry body Confor, said: “the report provides a stark illustration of the concerns that have been raised for a number of years – government targets for tree planting are not being met and this is affecting confidence and business activity in the sector.

Read More