1. Sustainable Woodland
Management

2. Woodlands in England
• Total woodland area 1,119,000ha
Conifers 370,000ha
Broadleaved 749,000ha

3. 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

4. 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%

5. 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%)

6. 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

7. Woodlands and Climate Change
• Woodfuel – carbon neutral
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8. Woodlands and Climate Change
• Product substitution
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9. Woodlands and Climate Change
• New woodlands – carbon sinks
Health warning –
Carbon offset planting must be additional and
include provision for future management
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10. Woodlands and Climate Change
• Shade, cooling, flood plain management

11. Coppice produce/green wood crafts

12. 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’

13. •
Options for management
-Coppicing
Cutting trees
down to ground
level at intervals
to stimulate new
growth
• ‘Coupes’ of 0.250.5ha
• Coppice with
standards
• Biodiversity value
– usually high

14. Options for managementClear 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

15. Options for managementContinuous 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

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

17. Any questions?