Evaluation for felling permissions

You may only fell a tree in Scotland if it either:

falls under a specific exemption, or
has approved permission

To get permission, you must submit and application to Scottish Forestry. Only the landowner, or someone the landowner authorises in writing, can apply.

Important: Issuing a permission

We will only issue a permission when we are satisfied we have all the required knowledge.

We have created guidance to support applicants with the application process.

Applications must contain certain information to be accepted. This includes:

contact details
maps showing species and site plans, drawn to a certain specification
area information
operation details
restocking plans, unless otherwise agreed
any Tree Preservation Orders or conservation areas
access consent allowing Scottish Forestry onto the land to carry out an assessment
stakeholder engagement record with anyone affected by the plan
reason for felling
site sensitivities or constraints and how you will avoid any risk to them

Felling trees

Guidance for applicants

Our guide explains how to apply for a Felling Permission under the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018. It also covers how to appeal a decision and provides information on enforcement procedures and the penalties for felling without permission.

Read our Felling Permission Application Guidance

Our assessment process

Checking the application

We will check the application contains all the information required.

Assessing against the standards

We assess your proposal against the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) which sets out the standard for sustainable forest management.

Desk checks

We use our Land Information Search and other tools to identify sensitivities or designations.

Requesting more details

If we require further information, we will ask you to provide it.

Site visit

We usually visit your site to confirm the details in your proposal. We will use this visit to identify any other issues that may need addressing.

Public register and consultation

Once we are satisfied that all issues are addressed, we will publish your proposal on our public register. This lets interested parties to comment on an application. We will also notify any relevant stakeholders directly.

Final decision

We will discuss any feedback with you. After we confirm that all issues have been suitably addressed, we will approve the felling permission

Our evaluation process for felling permissions