Re: best solution!
"Most of it went pre-industrialisation"
By and large, pre-industrial revolution, woodland was well managed for sustainability (except, of course, the word wasn't used). Coppicing made growth for fuel and material for small wooden items - implement handles, etc. - into a crop taken every few years. Felling for the navy could be a different matter but there was some panic planting of woodland for the sake of the navy just before iron ships came into being. There was also importation from the Baltic.
The real killer was that with the replacement of wood as fuel and structural timber by coal and iron there was no need to manage woodland in the same way.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
