From Frosty Fields to Forest Resilience: Reviving the Scots Pine Breeding Programme

by | Dec 16, 2025 | Blog, Project Blogs

Three people stood against a background of a tree, in a field with long grass. The person on the left is taking the selfie of the three people. They have a dark beard and moustache and is wearing a blue cap and a green zip up fleece. The person in the middle has long blonde hair and is wearing a light and dark blue flower patterned winter jacket. They are also wearing a grey and brown patterned scarf, and a navy hat and snood. The person on the right has dark brown hair tied back in a pony tail, and is wearing a multi-coloured patterned headband, and a navy puffer jacket. All three are smiling at the camera in a selfie pose.

Scots pine is a cornerstone of Britain’s native woodlands and an essential species for forestry. Its adaptability makes it vital for creating resilient forests that can withstand pests, diseases, and the impacts of climate change. By maintaining and improving the genetic diversity of Scots pine, we help secure its future role in supporting biodiversity, providing timber, and sustaining healthy ecosystems across the UK.

Kirsten O’Sullivan, Forest Genetics Operations Manager at Forest Research and member of our Infusing Resilience into the Scots Pine Genetic Resource project team, takes us behind the scenes of the team’s recent trip to the Borders. Their mission? Collecting pine cones for vital genetic research.

On a frosty November day, armed with cone collecting equipment, lots of warm layers and a big flask of tea, Jessica, our Project Intern, Richard, one of the Project Leads and Head of Tree Breeding at Forest Research, and I travelled to a Forestry England seed orchard on the Scotland/England border.

A small, plump bird with a bright orange-red breast and face, contrasting with brown upperparts, grey flanks, and a whitish belly, The bird, a robin, is perched on a moss-covered tree branch,

Whilst there, we were joined by a very confident and inquisitive robin who followed us around from tree to tree, probably hoping for some worms! (C) Kirsten O’Sullivan, Forest Research

The fieldwork was part of the project to reopen the national Scots pine breeding programme. After being inactive for many years, the breeding programme is being updated to help diversify British forests and to include objectives such as resilience to biotic and abiotic stress.

A series of field trials are soon going to be established, so that the performance of trees with different genetics can be assessed. Some of the pine cones which we collected from the orchard were particularly important, because they are the culmination of many hours of painstaking work hand pollinating trees, which was undertaken by the wider team last year.

Two people with their backs to the camera, reaching to collect pine cones from a Scots pine tree. The person on the left is wearing a light and dark blue flower patterned winter jacket. They are also wearing a grey and brown patterned scarf, and a navy hat and snood. The person on the right has dark brown hair tied up in a pony tail with a pink hair bobble. They are wearing a green Forestry Commission branded jacket on top of a navy blue fleece.

Jessica and Kirsten collecting pine cones (C) Richard Whittet, Forest Research

After warming up on the drive back to Forest Research’s Northern Research Station, we hung the pine cones in a purpose built pagoda to store them before bringing them inside to dry. Jessica and I will be extracting the seeds in the new year, and then safely storing them until they are ready to be sown in preparation to be planted in field trials.

A small wooden building with a roof which extends further out to the left and right than the walls. The walls are made from a thin translucent blue/grey material. Inside there are wooden beams with small white material bags hanging off of them. In the foreground there are three wooden pallets with some other wood and plastic materials to the left of the building, and some black plastic pots for planting to the right of the building.

The pagoda where the pine cones we had collected were hung to dry © Kirsten O’Sullivan, Forest Research.

Keep an eye on the CFP website and our ‘Infusing resilience into the Scots pine genetic resource’ project webpage in the new year to find out more about our seed extractions!