International Day of Forests takes place on 21 March every year to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests.  

To mark this special day, we spoke to Jean Nairn, Executive Director of Scotland’s Finest Woods, about her diverse career and the importance of recognising excellence in woodland management.

What are the awards and why are they important?

The Scotland's Finest Woods Awards programme was established 40 years ago as a way of recognising the best of woodland management and the people who care for trees.  

It’s grown to include seven different categories in 2025, which demonstrates the breadth of forestry and woodland activity across Scotland. There is a competition appropriate to virtually all woodland projects, including woodland carbon projects and community woodlands.  

We are unique in offering categories which celebrate and inspire throughout the whole rotation of trees and humans. Motivating young people and having them at the awards ceremony demonstrates that forestry is a great career choice with many avenues to follow.  

Forestry can be an isolated job for a forest manager, so it’s good to bring people together to acknowledge their achievements and see inspiring examples of woodland creation and management across the country.   

It’s important to celebrate the work of those who are trying to leave the world in a better place. We are pleased to facilitate this through our annual awards while acknowledging it’s a huge team effort by all involved. This includes the entrants, our volunteer judges, our sponsors and supporters as well as our volunteer trustees and many more in the background who help to deliver the programme.

Why should people enter?

We encourage people to enter to be recognised for their vision, hard work and effort in creating fabulous examples of woodlands and tree-related projects across Scotland. There are cash prizes as well as some magnificent trophies.  

If an entrant is shortlisted, they will also benefit from a site visit from the judges. Many entrants have remarked that this is a valuable part of the experience.  

And, of course, if you are a winner, there’s the opportunity to attend the awards ceremony. Your project will gain some publicity too.  

We hope everyone enjoys being part of the forestry community and culture in Scotland.

How did you become involved in the awards?

In a previous life, I worked in and around the forest industry for almost 20 years after studying agroforestry at the University of Bangor. I was aware of the awards programme for many years and used to help colleagues in putting forward entries each year.  

Like many people, I was offered a change of direction in 2020 when I began training as a forest and nature therapy guide. I am certified with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and we have a strong ethos of being in relationship with the land.  

So, when the opportunity arose to become Executive Director of Scotland’s Finest Woods, I chose to take on the role as part of my reciprocity with the trees and the land. I took over the role in the autumn of 2022 and I can’t quite believe that I’m now into the third year of presenting the awards.  

I’m looking forward to seeing what amazing projects and people come out of the woods this year!

What’s the best part of your role? 

Being able to recognise our winners and present the prizes at the annual awards ceremony and receiving appreciative comments from entrants after their visit with the judges and hearing the good news about their award.  

We appreciate everyone involved in making the awards happen, whatever their contribution to making them the success that they are. 

How do people enter? 

We’ve tried to make the process as easy as possible.  

Each of the award categories are listed on our website. Each award has its own set of entry criteria and guidance. This includes guidance on the inclusion of photos, videos and overall file size of an entry as well as specifics about the trees in your project.  

If you have an eligible project, there is a brief entry form to complete so that the judges can shortlist inspiring entries to visit. Shortlisted entries will be visited by the judges and winners will be invited to the awards ceremony which we anticipate will be held in November during National Tree Week.   

Entries for the schools and early years competitions close on 31 March and all other categories close on 31 May 2025. If you have any questions, please check the website or contact me.

Case study - Corehead native woodland  

Corehead Woodland in Dumfries and Galloway is a Woodland Carbon Code project which was highly commended in the Climate Champion Award category in 2021.  

Judges praised the project as “an excellent example of incorporation of climate change thinking into an ambitious large-scale habitat restoration project so that it delivers long-term benefits.” 

The site is owned by Borders Forest Trust who worked with Forest Carbon to develop the project.  

Bennan Hill in Ayrshire won the overall Climate Change Champion Award that year.