Background: Timber from old-growth stands of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D.Don) Endl.) is dimensionally stable, resistant to surface checking and splitting, and has been widely used for outdoor purposes such as decking and cladding. Restrictions on the supply of redwood timber from Californian stands have increased the focus on timber from plantations grown elsewhere in comparatively short rotations. Little is known about the quality of timber produced from plantations of redwood in New Zealand.

The heathlands of West Cornwall have been extensively used for a variety of human activities over several millennia, but these uses have substantially diminished and changed in recent times. The area includes the West Penwith ESA (Environmentally Sensitive Area), which is a beautiful landscape in the far west of Cornwall of high landscape, historic and biodiversity value. This case study provides a valuation of its ecosystem services, and evaluates the incentive schemes (agri-environment schemes) that were set up by government to protect this valuable landscape. It provides recommendations for how the area should be managed in the future for maximum benefit, and the need for future rural development and reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

No abstract