For eleven days between 28th March and 7th April 2005 a group from the National School of Forestry, Newton Rigg visited the Czech and Slovak Republics to study forest management and conservation. Information was gathered on the history, values and past and present forest policies and the effect that these factors have had on the forests of the Czech and Slovak Republics today. The purpose of this article is to give an overview of forestry in the Czech and Slovak republics, with reference to forestry practices in the United Kingdom.