From Peat Bog to Conifer Forest An Oral History of Whitelee, its Community and Landscape

About this book

By 1900, only five percent of Scotland was tree-covered. However, during the twentieth century, large-scale planting of coniferous trees significantly enlarged the area of woodland. Afforestation was driven by the Forestry Commission at the bidding of governments which knew home-grown timber was desperately needed. This book focuses on the associated social, agricultural and ecological changes to the Whitelee Plateau, where Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire meet. Importantly, it contains an in-depth Oral History presenting the experiences of the community which lived and worked there and of the officals whose job it was to buy the moorland and convert it to forest. They describe how their lives changed when they became involved in preparing and planting Whitelee Forest and as the tree monoculture grew. In the present century space is being made in Whitelee Forest for wind turbines to generate electricity.

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