Chris Nixon with the 2006 Scottish Forest Strategy. Photo by Sarah Chester

Chris Nixon is actually a Pom masquerading as a Scot and he doesn’t even own a kilt.

With his mild accent and manner, Chris has avoided being the butt of too many jokes, as he exchanges forestry in Scotland for New South Wales.

He’s the first exchange forestry manager in a program between Forests NSW and the Forestry Commission of Scotland. The program was set up by the former head of Forests NSW Planted Forests Operations, Peter Crowe, following a visit to Scotland back in 2003.

Chris and his wife Alison arrived in our winter (June 2006), which he said felt just like their summer. They are here for a year and have settled well into Albury, but not so easily into the weather.

Home for Chris and Alison is Dornoch, way, way north in Scotland, above Inverness, and the Loch Ness monster.

“I’m used to mist and quite a high rainfall (about 1250 millimetres a year),” Chris said.

“I’m also in the habit of wearing Wellingtons and waterproofs. We spend a lot of time on site drainage – planning how to get the water off planting sites – rather than trying to keep the water on planting sites as you do here.”

For the past eight years, Chris has managed Dornoch Forest District, the northern most district in Scotland, with 45000 hectares of pine and spruce plantation.

“We mainly grow Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) – which are slower growing than radiata pine, with final harvest after 60 to 80 years,” he said.

Chris has 21 years experience in forestry in Britain and is relishing the opportunity to work in another country.

While in Australia, he has been contributing to the preparation of a plantation strategy, identifying some of the key issues Forests NSW needs to tackle in the next five years or so.

“It has been a fantastic experience and I’ve been able to provide an independent point of view,” Chris said.

“I’ve been travelling around the state visiting regional offices, meeting a lot of staff, discussing current issues and seeing a great deal of countryside.

“The distances here are enormous. The UK would fit inside NSW, so you have to get used to the fact that it is going to take a lot longer to get there than the time you actually spend in a meeting.”

One thing he finds great fun is the language, and he is often not at all sure what people are talking about.

“Take B-doubles, now that sounds like something you’d order at the bar. We don’t really have them as they would not fit on narrow highland roads,” he said.

Chris has been very excited to learn about carbon sequestration.

“It’s on the horizon in Scotland, but Australia is the place to be when it comes to carbon trading.”

He said another big difference was Australia’s approach to recreation.

“In Scotland, demand for recreation in commercial forests is a lot higher, when you think we have 60 million people in Britain, there’s a big demand for space and outdoor facilities.

“Our forests are full of people mountain biking, orienteering, fishing, et cetera, and we also provide camp sites and holiday chalet cabins – run by our Forest Holidays Unit.

“This could one of the many things someone on an exchange to Scotland could experience and bring back to NSW.

“I’ve had a brilliant reception here, and to return the favour, we are dead keen on giving someone from Forests NSW the opportunity to travel and work in Scotland,” Chris said.

This article appears in the Autumn 2007 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.