viewing category: myForest

A major milestone was reached earlier this week when the area of woodland mapped on our myForest service exceeded 10,000 hectares. The 10,000ha of woodland on myForest has been registered by some 475 different owners across Britain.

Despite this achievement we are only looking forward, in exploring how best we can support Britain’s woodland owners in managing their forests, and in improving links between growers and wood users. There are probably in excess of 90,000 private woodland owners in Britain, owning some 2.2 million ha, so there is plenty of work to do.

View the latest myForest service statistics

 

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The Farm and Forestry Improvement Scheme (FFIS), part of the RDPE programme, aims to help farmers, foresters and horticultural businesses in England to increase profits and reduce their impact on the environment.

Farmers, foresters, contractors, woodland owners and horticulturalists across England are eligible to apply for grants to invest in green projects and new machinery so their businesses can grow in an environmentally friendly way.  The selection process is competitive and applications will be appraised against one another. To be eligible for funding projects must fall within one of the following key areas of activity:

  • nutrient management,
  • energy efficiency,
  • water resource management,
  • animal health and welfare and
  • forestry

The 1st round of the scheme is open from Wednesday 16 November 2011 until 17 January 2012

Further details such as a hand book on how to apply for the grant can be found on the DEFRA’s website.

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Sylva Online Shop

We are delighted to launch our online shop. We have some wonderful works of art arising from the OneOak project that many people have expressed interest in.  To launch the shop we are initially offering a rare opportunity for people to own a limited edition print of a pen and ink drawing by internationally-renowned artist Sarah Simblet. Over the coming weeks and months we will be adding other artwork and products.

 The OneOak tree portrait

A stunning pen and ink portrait of the OneOak tree drawn by internationally renowned artist, and author of Botany for the Artist, Sarah Simblet. Generously donated to the Sylva Foundation by the artist. All proceeds from sales will be used for our charitable work. Only 100 limited edition prints have been made, and each hand signed and numbered by the artist.

Sarah Simblet is an artist, author and teacher of drawing at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford. Sarah made an original pen and ink drawing of the OneOak tree before it was felled in 2010. In the tradition of the teacher and art critic John Ruskin, her botanical drawings are a great aid to our understanding of the structure of plants by encouraging the viewer to study their intricate detail. Such meticulous drawings made by the human hand can be more compelling than photographs which are now commonplace in everyday life.

Printed with pigment-based inks on acid-free 310gsm FSC grade cotton rag paper, with UV coatings providing light-fastness in excess of 100 years. Double-mounted (where applicable) with off-white cotton rag board. All materials are sustainably sourced. Frames (where applicable) are made with FSC grade ash finished with natural wax.

For further information and prices visit our online shop.

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The Forestry Regulation Task Force has today, 27 October 2011, delivered its final report and recommendations to Government.

The report, ‘Challenging Assumptions, Changing Perceptions’, challenges Government to look at the way the Forestry sector is regulated and is the culmination of 9 months’ work gathering information, engaging with and seeking views from the forestry sector.  The Task Force make 15 Key Recommendations, 26 Recommendations and a further 14 recommendations to improve existing processes.

Download  the full report on the Forestry Commission’s Forestry Regulation Task Force webpage.

 

 

 

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Sylva and the Oxford University Department for Continuation Education (OUDCE) are holding a one day course on November 5th:

Trees and Woodlands of England: Past, Present and Future

Anyone with an interest in trees and forests is welcome. Why not come along and learn about woodlands in the past, the key issues of the present, and discuss the future for trees and woodlands? Places are still available.

Visit the OUDCE website to book online

Trees and Woodlands of England: Past, Present and Future – 5th November, Oxford

- What woodland history can reveal about past ‘wood culture’ – Mr John Morris, Director of the Chilterns Woodland Project

- The state of sustainable forest management in England today- Dr Peter Savill, Emeritus Fellow of Linacre College and the former Reader of Forestry at the University of Oxford’s Plant Sciences Department

- The future opportunities and challenges of our nation’s trees and woodlands- Dr Nick Brown, Principal of Linacre College and lecturer in forest ecology at the University of Oxford’s Plant Sciences Department.

- How the celebration of the OneOak tree project has engaged Oxfordshire communities and highlighted how a modern day wood culture can support sustainable communities – Dr Gabriel Hemery, Chief Executive of the Sylva Foundation

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The Forestry Commission (FC) England has recently updated their management planning template and the associated guidance document.
The template is the recommended format for FC England’s Woodland Planning Grant.

The new planning layout and information fields have now been incorporated into the myForest management planning template.
There are now a number of additional information fields to enter, details of which are described below.

The updates include (myForest notes in brackets):

  • New woodland information features
    (Section 2 – Further information is required on designated areas and also if there are any designated areas adjacent to the woodland).
  • Basic woodland inventory data (species, age, Yield Class) with the short term plan of operations -
    (Section 7 – Most of the new information required is covered by the myForest compartment inventory information. However one additional piece of information is the requirement for Yield Class (YC). A definition of YC is provided in the myForest management plan template).
  • Plan authors can provide additional information on proposed harvesting operations in order to obtain a 10 year felling permission and / or CPET category B status.
    (This is relates to Section 10 of the management plan template and has been updated in the myForest plan. One of the main changes has been the requirement to put estimated felling volumes for each compartment over a 20 year period. This is a requirement for the new Woodfuel Woodland Improvement Grant).
  • Changes to the 2011 revision to UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) and the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS).
  • The new template must be used for all new Woodland Planning Grant applications.
    (the new template can be found here and the guidance document can be found here).

We have made a few additional improvements to the plan layout as well which we hope will help the myForest management planning process.

Please feel free to contact Sylva if you wish to discuss any aspect of the myForest management plan, or leave feedback on the myForest forum.

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International Year of the Forest 2011

Celebrating Forests for People

Sylva and the Oxford University Department for Continuation Education (OUDCE) are holding the following day course in celebration of the 2011 International Year of the Forest.

Trees and Woodlands of England: Past, Present and Future

- What woodland history can reveal about past ‘wood culture’ – Mr John Morris, Director of the Chilterns Woodland Project

- The state of sustainable forest management in England today- Dr Peter Savill, Emeritus Fellow of Linacre College and the former Reader of Forestry at the University of Oxford’s Plant Sciences Department

- The future opportunities and challenges of our nation’s trees and woodlands- Dr Nick Brown, Principle of Linacre College and lecturer in forest ecology at the University of Oxford’s Plant Sciences Department.

- How the celebration of the OneOak tree project has engaged Oxfordshire communities and highlighted how a modern day wood culture can support sustainable communities – Dr Gabriel Hemery, Chief Executive of the Sylva Foundation

Course date – 5th November 2011

Please find further course information and details of how to register on the OUDCE website

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Today myForest Wales is being launched at the Royal Welsh Show.

ConFor Wales logo

myForest Wales will be delivered by Sylva in partnership with ConFor, with part-funding from Forestry Commission Wales.  It is also supported by Coed Cymru, the woodland management charity in Wales.

The forestry sector employs more than 16,000 people in Wales and puts £1.7 billion into the economy.  The new myForest Wales service is aiming to boost these figures with the ambitious goal of almost doubling the number of managed woodlands across the country.

myForest in Wales

“Across Wales there are more than 90,000 ha undermanaged woodlands – almost half the tree cover – with management we can improve these woodlands for wildlife, growing firewood and quality timber in the future ,” said Kath McNulty of ConFor, who is leading myForest Wales.

“The best way of achieving this, we believe, is by setting up an information and knowledge hub to pull together the supply chain. Our aim is to support and expand a balanced market for woodfuel, quality timber and coppice materials.”

Part funded by Forestry Commission Wales, it supports new approaches to sustainable management of woodlands and is a significant opportunity for increased woodland biodiversity; carbon sequestration; timber and woodfuel production for local use and additional income for landowners.

Businesses can sign up easily to a directory to promote their services and products. Woodland agents and independent managers are able to create a specialist agent account to assist with the management of their client’s woodland information and link them with the wider wood community.

Bringing woodlands into an appropriate and sustainable management regime is an objective shared by the Welsh Government, Forestry Commission Wales, WFBP, ConFor and the Sylva Foundation.

“The Sylva Foundation is delighted that we can now offer a bilingual myForest service to the woodland community in Wales. Our experience in England is that myForest has helped woodland owners understand the potential of their woodlands and helped them market their woodland products in new and exciting ways,” said Alistair Yeomans, Director of Forestry for the Sylva Foundation.

myForest promotes and works with national forestry organisations and woodland management initiatives, many of which offer vital outreach services to woodland owners and support the development of a sustainable forestry sector.

Woodland owners, managers and forestry businesses in Wales can join this free online woodland community on www.myforest.org.uk/wales or for the Welsh language version www.myforest.org.uk/cymru.

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Woodland management for butterflies and moths

Woodland management for butterflies and moths

Woodland management for butterflies and moths – A best practise guide

This guide is intended for anyone involved in the management of woodland. It provides guidance on the woodland habitat features needed by butterflies and moths, and how to create, maintain and improve them.

This timely new book draws on thirty years of experience and research in to management of woodlands by Butterfly Conservation staff, volunteers and other experts. It is aimed at anyone managing woodlands who wishes to provide habitats for butterflies and moths.

Buy this publication directly from Butterfly Conservation’s website at the special introductory price of £7.50 plus p&P or download this publication by chapter:

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Earth Trust

Earth Trust

Paradise Wood Open Afternoon: A National Research Woodland

Discover more about our woodlands and forestry research. Refreshments available. Do you know what a dendrometer band and a seed orchard are or how our native trees may adapt to climate change? Timed, guided tours of Paradise Wood will depart from the Neptune Wood car park at 2pm and 3:30pm. Find out more at the Earth Trust’s website

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