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viewing category: myForest

woodlandeditor

editing a sub-compartment

The new woodland editor system has been added to the site today.

The system replaces the old home page in the woodland owner account, and combines editing features that were previously spread across several pages. Woodland owners can now edit the mapping for all of their sub-compartments in the same place.

This development brings myForest closer to a full online GIS system.  We plan to add more GIS updates soon, including mapping for more features such as paths and waterways.

Users with existing woodland owner accounts can use the new system right away.  Just log in to your account and the system will appear in place of the old home page.

If you don’t have an account, sign up now.


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myForest April 2013

myForest statistics in April 2013

A major milestone has been passed in the myForest Service. The total area of woodlands mapped across Britain now exceeds 20,000 hectares (or 49,421 acres). This represents 1192 woodlands owned by 731 individuals.

We provide real-time essential statistics that can be viewed by anyone at any time, see: www.sylva.org.uk/myforest/about_stats.php


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A film about the B&Q Good Woods project has been released. It features Sarah Greenaway from B&Q and Pooran Desai from our partners BioRegional who explain the ideas behind the project and our work objectives during 2013. They visit brickmaker Jim Matthews of H. G Matthews who uses timber to fire his kiln, harvested both from his own woodland and from an increasing number of local woodlands. The film is narrated by our Media Associate, and presenter of the 2012 BBC hit series Tales from the Wild Wood, Robert Penn.

Read more about the B&Q Good Woods project at www.sylva.org.uk/goodwoods

 


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March 26, 2013

The BeWILD Legacy Report

Category: myForest home

Edit – we originally posted an incorrect download link, which we have now fixed.
Apologies for any inconvenience.

This is an evaluation report of the BeWILD Project, an ancient woodland management project delivered across Berkshire from 2008-2011.

This Report pulls together the successes and achievements of the BeWILD Project, and aims to share our experiences and findings from the Project with others involved in woodland management in Berkshire and beyond.

It has been written in an accessible toolkit format with case studies, project summary tables, and Top Tips for woodland projects boxes.

It contains guidance on woodland management for wildlife, timber production, marketing and woodfuel, as well as lots of links to woodland and woodfuel organisations and guidance material. The Report is designed to be dipped into and read at different levels depending on your interest and time.

 

Written and produced by Meg Chambers, Karen Davies and Mel Hardie

Meg Chambers, Independent Woodland Advisor meg.chambers@hotmail.co.uk

Karen Davies, Independent Farm Conservation Advisor karen_adavies@hotmail.co.uk 


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Grown in Britain

Grown in Britain

Sylva is pleased to lend its support to a new movement known as Grown in Britain that has been launched with cross-Government support and the involvement of all parts of the forestry sector across Britain.

Its aims are to:

  1. Create a new and stronger market ‘pull’ for the array of products derived from our forests and woodlands.
  2. Develop private sector funding that supports the planting and management of forests and woodlands through funding from corporates as part of their corporate social responsibility.
  3. Connect together and harness the positive energy and feelings towards our forests and woodlands that many in our society share to create a strong ‘wood culture’.  A wood culture that captures personal health and fitness, well-being, community and encourages use of more wood and forest products.

Sylva is pleased to endorse the movement, and in particular are pleased that its work with partners B&Q and BioRegional (read more) can offer an early and practical example of how the sector can work together to make a lasting impact on the future of Britain’s forests. It also chimes perfectly with Sylva’s mission to ‘revive Britain’s wood culture‘, that we have been working hard towards since our inception five years ago. We look forward to supporting the movement in every way that we can.

Read more about Grown in Britain


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Realising nature's value

Realising nature’s value – report from the Ecosystem Markets Task Force. Click to download from the Defra website

The final report of the Ecosystem Markets Task Force was published today entitled: Realising nature’s value

The report includes (on page 21) the B&Q woodland project that we announced recently (read more). It says:

Bringing neglected woodland into an appropriate management regime is challenging, and woodland owners often lack a route to market. The B&Q UK Forest Friendly Woodland project is run by the charities BioRegional and The Sylva Foundation, and helps woodland owners and managers understand their woodland resource and create a Forestry Commission compliant management plan. A network of local woodland trainers will visit 200 woodlands across the South East and East of England, representing approximately 10,000 hectares of woodland and provide training to woodland owners on The Sylva Foundation’s MyForest mapping service.

The Ecosystem Markets Task Force was established as a practical, business-led review of the economic opportunities that arise from valuing nature correctly . The work of the Task Force is a key commitment in the Government’s Natural Environment White Paper, ‘The Natural Choice’ , which seeks to create “a green economy, in which economic growth and the health of our natural resources sustain each other, and markets, business and Government better reflect the value of nature.”

Download the report from the Defra website

 


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We are proud to announce today a ground-breaking scheme to breathe new life into neglected woodlands, developed by a partnership between the Sylva Foundation, BioRegional and B&Q.

We have teamed up with sustainability charity BioRegional and B&Q to support woodland owners in bringing woodlands into active management. The new scheme is part of B&Q’s One Planet Home programme.  The myForest Service (www.myForest.org.uk) will be central in the project and will support woodland owners in enhancing their woodland for wildlife, helping local communities to enjoy and value their woodlands and encourage the sourcing and supply of local timber from sustainable sources.

The new partnership was endorsed by government yesterday (31 January), when Environment Secretary Owen Paterson published the formal response to the final report of the Independent Panel on Forestry. Within the report (p.17) government said:

“It is important for landowners and businesses to be aware of and understand the interests of their local communities and be willing to work with them wherever possible to their mutual benefit. We welcome B&Q’s recent initiative to help woodland owners engage with their local communities and we encourage others to do the same.”

We will be releasing more information about this major project over coming weeks.

Press Release: Bringing UK woodlands back to life, 01 February 2013

download press release

 

Press Release: Bringing UK woodlands back to life, 01 February 2013

 

 

 


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The one thousandth woodland has been mapped on myForest service website. The total area mapped now exceeds 17,000ha across Britain, with a few Irish woodland owners having signed up over recent months. These statistics tell us that the average woodland size is 1.47ha. In reality of course, from more in depth analysis we know that the woodlands mapped on myForest range from some very large woodlands (over 1000ha) to the smallest copse or spinney (0.25ha).

Readers interested in progress with the uptake and coverage of myForest can view the latest statistics on the service’s website. Click on the image below to visit the page.

myForest statistics January 2013

myForest statistics as of 29 January 2013. Click on the image to view the latest stats

Other news relating to myForest is that some major work has been underway in developing the online mapping tools. These are being trialled currently with a few beta testers, and we hope to launch the update fully soon. If you are a woodland manager or agent, and consider yourself to be IT savvy, why not contact us and volunteer as a beta tester for the future?


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WOODLAND ARCHAEOLOGY- Training Workshops with John Morris of the Chilterns Woodland Project

 

This popular one day course will include an illustrated talk, a guided woodland visit to see features found in Pigotts Wood, and a chance to explore the wood.

Features found in Pigotts Wood include sawpits, charcoal hearths, lynchets, boundary banks, iron bloomery, stone and chalk quarries. Documentary evidence for this ancient wood goes back to the 16th century.

The course will be run twice over two days: Friday 1st March 2013      or second day    Saturday 2nd March 2013

Start at 10.30 am until about 4.00 pm (depending on weather).

 

Held in Pigotts Wood, North Dean, Bucks

(about 4 miles north of High Wycombe, on road to Speen from Hughenden Valley). Meet at Pigotts.

 Grid ref SU 853990                   post code HP14 4NF

follow Chiltern Woodlands Project event signs up Pigotts Hill

 

Please bring:- Strong footwear and warm / wet weather clothing.

  • Packed lunch (tea & coffee provided)
  • Booking essential – Cost  £30 per person (places limited)

Contact: John Morris, Chilterns Woodland Project (registered charity 1002512), The Lodge, 90 Station Road, Chinnor, Oxon OX39 4HA

Tel 01844 355503        email: woodlands@chilternsaonb.org

Download Form

 

 


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LOOKING FOR THE TRULY TREE….MENDOUS!

The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) has recently announced details for its 2013 Woodland Awards. Once again John Clegg & Co will be sponsoring the Multipurpose Forestry category (The Duke of Cornwall Award). Details of the awards have been provided to us by the RFS as set out below and application forms can be obtained via the RFS website.

Experts are looking to find the best woodlands – large or small – to act as local beacons of good practice in a region running from Worcestershire to Cumbria. At stake are £1000 top prizes and £500 second prizes in each of five different categories.

Also being sought are the most inspirational projects involving nurseries, schools or other educational organisations which increase young people’s understanding and appreciation of the environmental, social and economic potential of trees, woodlands and forests and of the link between trees and everyday wood products.

The Royal Forestry Society Excellence in Forestry Awards rotate around the country. For 2013 the RFS has linked up with Forestry Commission England to offer an urban forestry category for the first time, alongside four other woodland awards, each recognising good practice – Multipurpose (Duke of Cornwall Award), Community, Silviculture and Small Woodlands (up to 20 hectares).

Woodland owners and managers (private and public), community groups, local authorities, housing developers, planners, farmers and schools in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, the West Midlands, Staffordshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man are eligible to take part.

Entries must be received by 4 March 2013, and judging will be held in May and June 2013. The woodland awards will be presented at an event during July.

Further details and entry forms are available by following the RFS Excellence in Forestry 2013 links athttp://www.rfs.org.uk or via email to rfscompetition@boyns.net


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