The North East Group area follows the Forestry Commission Scotland's North East boundary and covers approx. 880,115 ha. Our area includes the whole of NE Scotland from Elgin in the north-west to Laurencekirk in the south east and as far west as Braemar and includes:
• Coastal woods of the Moray Firth (Culbin, Roseisle, Lossie)
• Bennachie mountain range and surrounding forests
• Peaceful pinewoods of Upper and Royal Deeside
• Busy city woods round Aberdeen.
• Farm woodlands of the North East Forest
• Forests and woodlands in the Cairngorm National Park
• Riparian woodlands along the Dee, Don and Spey catchments
• Semi-natural and plantation pinewoods are extensive in the Cairngorms, Deeside and in Moray

Where else in the country can you get such variety!  Whether you are a walker, mountain biker or horse rider, there is something for you in the Forests of Moray and Aberdeenshire

North East region is comprised of a mosaic of land cover types, within a varying topography, from the farmland of the Buchan Plains to the wooded slopes of the Cairngorm mountains.

• Woodland area is 24%
• 72% is coniferous woodland
• 28% is broadleaved woodland, mixed woodland and scrub
• 150,000ha of woodlands
• Around 700,000 tonnes of timber produced per yea

The significant number of timber processors, the work already begun by the Grampian Forest plantings and the development of a number of local wood fuel/pellet producers demonstrates the importance to the local economy of the best use of forestry and timber. There is also considerable scope to develop and expand native woodlands within North East, by both new planting and natural regeneration, to sequester carbon, to strengthen habitat networks and to assist adaptation to climate change.

North East Region contains the large conurbation of Aberdeen and many smaller communities, which allows an analysis of how people and communities link with woodland and forestry issues at the landscape scale by determining accessibility to woodland at different scales.

North East regional characteristics:

1. High proportion of forestry owned by private forestry owners
2. Good level of interface between moorland and forestry
3. Importance of the production and processing of timber to the economy
4. High percentage of Scots Pine in the region, particularly in Moray
5. Strong links to agriculture
6. Proximity of woodland to a large number of communities