BBC series highlights Scottish forestry sector

8 January 2018


The Galloway forest, including the timber industry based there, is the focus of a new six-part BBC Scotland TV documentary being produced by Hollywood filmmaker Jack Warrender.

Mr Warrender, who has worked on blockbusters such as Captain America and World War Z, grew up nearby.

The first episode aired on BBC One Scotland on January 8 narrated by actor Mark Bonnar and featured a team of specialist contractors from Wales harvesting timber from the most inaccessible areas using a massive system of cables and winches called the skyline. It also featured a Forestry Commission recreation team rebuilding steps on a well-worn pathway at Fairy Knowe.

Galloway Forest is the largest UK forest and produces around 600,000 tonnes of timber annually. The programme is designed to reveal the hidden world of Galloway Forest, Scotland’s ‘Highlands in the Lowlands’.

Mr Warrender told the BBC that filming had opened his eyes to the “full glory” of the area and that local people had been very supportive through the six months of filming.

Forestry workers, wildlife rangers and tree planters are among those to feature in the episodes. District forest manager Colin Hossack told the BBC that people outside south-west Scotland may be surprised at the level of activity in the forest, with about 24,000 lorry loads of timber coming out of the forest annually.