small woods and small woods

Sustainable Woodland Management

Woodlands in England• Total woodland area 1,119,000ha

Conifers 370,000ha

Broadleaved 749,000ha

Woodland History• Woodland clearance started in the neolithic

period 5000 years ago• Dropped to 15% by time of the Norman

Conquest, and further to 5% by 1900• Creation of the Forestry Commission in 1919

to develop a strategic resource stimulated a rise to 8.4%, with England’s most wooded county, Surrey, having 22% cover

Woodland History

This compares to • 11.6% across the UK• 15% target for England in IFP report 2012• 27.9% in France• 40% average in EU countries• Sweden 60%• Japan 70%

Key Facts

• 75% of all woodlands are between 0.1 and 2ha

• 93% of timber and timber products used in England are imported

• Annual increment 7.1MT, Harvested at present 2.9MT, Unutilised 4.2MT (59%)

Why value woodlands?

• Economic benefits – from planting, management, harvesting, processing, manufacture, also recreation and landscape

• Biodiversity• Social/psychological – sense of place, calming• Environmental – shade, screening, • Carbon Balance

Woodlands and Climate Change• Woodfuel – carbon neutral

7

Woodlands and Climate Change

• Product substitution

8

Woodlands and Climate Change• New woodlands – carbon sinks

9

Health warning –Carbon offset planting must be additional and include provision for future management

Woodlands and Climate Change• Shade, cooling, flood plain management

Coppice produce/green wood crafts

Why manage woodland?• Light is life• Benefits for biodiversity – decline in woodland

birds, butterflies and dormouse linked to unmanaged woodlands since WW2

• Local jobs• Carbon balance – carbon neutral woodfuel

into local markets, reduced ‘timber miles’

Options for management -Coppicing• Cutting trees

down to ground level at intervals to stimulate new growth

• ‘Coupes’ of 0.25-0.5ha

• Coppice with standards

• Biodiversity value – usually high

Options for management-Clear fell

• Growing a crop of trees, thinning then felling them all at once, then replacing them with another crop

• Replacement by planting or natural regeneration

• Even age – all trees of same age• Biodiversity value – usually low

Options for management-Continuous cover

• Individual trees or small groups selectively felled

• Gaps filled by natural regeneration• Uneven age – trees of all ages present• Can convert even age woodlands into

continuous cover over time• Biodiversity value- usually high

Current issues• Woodlotting• Cuts to FC, Natural England• FC disposals• Diseases – Phytophthora, Chalara• Climate change – species selection, pests/diseases• Public perceptions of woodland management• Woodfuel

Any questions?