Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards back for 2025

The biggest ever Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards is back for 2025 with a new prize and plans for a 40th birthday celebration.

The new Urban Forestry Award, sponsored by Future Woodlands Scotland is all about celebrating the projects that are turning towns and cities into greener, healthier and more sustainable places to live.

Meanwhile, the trustees are proud to be celebrating four decades of championing the contribution woodlands and forestry make towards the Scotland’s environment and economy. Entries are now open with a deadline of March 31 for the Schools and Early Years categories and May 31 for all other awards. 

An awards ceremony will take place in November when there will be the added chance to celebrate National Tree Week.  Jean Nairn, Executive Director of Scotland’s Finest Woods, said:

“It is wonderful to be planning for our 40th anniversary awards ceremony. And, having a new award to champion the important role urban woodland plays for our communities and the environment shows the vital role trees play in every part of the country.

“Scotland’s Finest Woods brings together brilliant work, from farms and forestry to local woods and schools. We are excited for this year’s entries, building on what has been a superb array of best practice woodland management and creation over the last four decades.

“Winners enjoy recognition and publicity for their hard work and care of trees and receive a cash prize in addition to the trophies on offer. If they are visited by judges, this is often a very worthwhile and inspiring experience for all involved.  Will you enter your project this year and be in with the chance of winning?”

Helping wildlife, communities and the climate through great woodland is not just happening in rural settings. The new award reflects the fact that 80% of Scotland’s population live in towns and cities, making urban forestry a vital element to create a greener environment, literally and environmentally.

There are 11 competitions at this year’s Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards covering the new category of Urban Forestry, as well as Quality Timber, Farm Woodland, New Native Wood, Community Woodland and Schools and Early Years, and Climate Change. 

Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform & Islands, presented many of the Awards last year. She said:

“The awards are a brilliant showcase for the very best of Scotland’s woodlands.

“Each year there’s such a variety of awards covering communities, schools, farming, through to native and productive woodlands. I’m really pleased that for the first time there is now a prize for urban woodlands too.

“The event is a celebration for many people who work hard to manage their woodlands and I would thoroughly recommend owners to join in and submit an entry.”

In 2024, the awards went to a diverse range of work from forestry within a biologically and structurally diverse native wood to best practice farm woodland to a community group which transformed a heavily browsed deer park with increased biodiversity.

Guy Watt, Chair of Scotland’s Finest Woods, the charity which operates the programme, said:

“It is great to look back on 40 years of celebrating and championing the best of all things woodlands and forestry. That is a fantastic achievement not only for the charity but also the great foresters, farmers, crofters, community groups and schools.

“To add urban forestry as a standalone award is a fitting way to mark four decades, especially at a time when the value of greenspace is rightly being appreciated more than ever.”

Celebrating a proud history of championing success

The awards ceremony will showcase 40 years of Scotland’s Finest Woods promoting the great work taking place each and very year across the country. 

The awards, first established in 1985, celebrate the contribution that woodlands can make to the people of Scotland and to its environment and economic prosperity. The underlying principle is that people from across Scotland work hard to support their local communities and the environment, and the awards provide a way to recognise and reward their achievements, and so identify exemplars for others to follow.

A partnership to run an annual awards programme was first established in 1985 by the Forestry Commission, Scottish Woodland Owners’ Association and the Royal Scottish Forestry Society with the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland joining later; the first competitions were held in 1986. In 1999 a fuller partnership developed to include a number of forestry and environmental organisations so as 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.

Enter now
Schools and Early Years entries must be made by 23:59 on Monday 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

Pic credit: Winner of the Fountains Forestry Award Lilburn Trophy for Farm or Croft Woodlands Nicholas Marshall for Baddinsgill Farm West Linton