Why Forestry?

As of 2026, forest cover in the UK and Ireland remains well below the European average, highlighting the need for continued afforestation and sustainable land management. Woodland covers approximately 13% of the UK and around 11% of Ireland, compared with the European average of nearly 40%. Both governments have committed to ambitious climate and biodiversity targets that depend on substantial increases in tree planting and domestic timber production. Achieving these goals will require significant private sector investment alongside public support.Ā 
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Ireland has introduced forestry incentives to encourage afforestation to accelerate planting, the Irish government offers grants, annual premium payments, and favourable tax treatment to make forestry a more financially attractive long-term land use for private investors and farmers.

Forests

All of the Forests that we recommend to our clients are located in the UK and Ireland. There are signiļ¬cant grants and tax breaks available to encourage more private investors to invest into forestry in order to reach greater national forestry coverage.

Recent Performance

According to Savills, UK commercial forestry has continued to demonstrate strong long-term investment characteristics, although the market has moderated since the exceptional growth period that peaked in 2022. Savills reported in its 2025 Forestry Market Spotlight that over the decade to 2022, forestry delivered ā€œexceptional growthā€ driven by rising timber prices, sustainable investment demand, and the attraction of tangible assets with environmental benefits. Savillsā€™ latest 2026 market commentary states that the UK commercial forestry market steadied during 2025. With around 18,100 hectares traded during 2025 ā€” above the 10-year average. Importantly, Savills notes that prices remain approximately 2.5 times higher than in 2016, underlining the sectorā€™s substantial long-term capital appreciation. James Adamson, Head of Forestry Investment UK at Savills, said the long-term outlook for forestry remains positive due to continuing investor demand for sustainable assets that combine timber production, carbon capture, and environmental enhancement. The historic benchmark remains the MSCI / IPD UK Annual Forestry Index, which tracks private-sector conifer plantations, predominantly Sitka spruce forests across mainland Britain. The index famously recorded an 18.4% total return in 2014, outperforming many mainstream asset classes that year. Although annual returns since then have fluctuated with timber prices, interest rates, and transaction volumes, forestry continues to be viewed as a resilient long-term alternative asset class offering diversification and inflation protection.

Stock-Market Correlation & Diversiļ¬cation

Trees will continue to grow, regardless of the state of the economy which means that forestry investments do not correlate with stock-market performance. They are an ideal way to hedge against economic downturns and inļ¬‚ation and offer diversiļ¬cation which results in the reduced risk for any investorsā€™ portfolio.

Sustainability

All of Virtues Forests are certiļ¬ed to the same standard as the Forest Stewardship Council scheme which demonstrates that they are well managed in accordance with strict Environmental, Social and Economic Criteria. The UK and Irish market is increasingly demanding FSC certiļ¬ed timber and as a company we have in place very high standards to ensure that we deliver timber that is eco-friendly and sustainable.