IT is the knockdown event of Scotland’s summer. This August some of the toughest lumberjack machines in the world will fell 10,000 cubic metres of timber. And they want you to watch.

For two days a wood in Lanarkshire will be converted in to Forestry Expo Scotland 2019, with audiences invited to see how trees are harvested.

Organisers, including the Forestry Journal, which is owned by the same publisher as The Herald, have invited the four dominant global manufacturers, John Deere, Komatsu, Ponsse & Tigercat. But they will also feature a further 100 exhibitors showcasing the very latest in all aspects of timber growing and processing technology.

The event is unique in Europe but the felling show is about much more than machinery: it is designed to ram home just how important Scotlands’s £1 billion a year timber industry has become.

Magazine Publisher, Darren Bruce also says: “We believe Forestry Expo Scotland bridges a gap in the market place and highlights all that is unique and innovative about the forestry industry, providing a compelling and informative focus specifically to the harvesting sector.”

Martin Dave, managing Director of another organiser, Rural Projects, Martin Dare, said: “We are extremely pleased and proud to be working closely with Forestry Journal and our key sponsors to deliver this first Forestry Expo. This exciting new event will provide the perfect platform for anyone working in the industry. The Little Clyde location allows two days of skilled harvesting demonstrations complimented by the adjacent exhibition area.”

Forestry Expo 2019 will take place on the 22nd and 23rd August at Little Clyde, Elvanfoot, Biggar, South Lanarkshire ML12 6RL. Headline and key sponsors of Forestry Expo Scotland include: John Deere, Komatsu, Ponsse, Clark Engineering, Fountains Forestry, Tigercat and Iggesund.

Timber processing generates nearly £800m a year in Scotland. Forestry recreation is worth almost another £200m. Between them, they employ 25,000 people. The last available statistics showed Scotland harvested 8.4 million cubic meters of timber in 2016, slightly off peak but seven times more than in the 1970s.

The UK still imports most of its wood but the Government aims to expand the timber industry.