Woodland management ![[Cert ™ 1.pdf]] [[Permaculture]]  Woodland agriculture  - Sustainable woodland management 100 year plan _ work back down from that to the present and short term. Government laws can have a big effect on things _ with short term chopping and changes in laws disrupting things. Forestry commission set up after WWI as so much wood had been chopped down. Would be beneficial if Forestry commission was taken away from governments that would be better. Sweet chestnut - 20 to 30 years - low sapling content  Or 4 year cycle for coppiced Building blocks of biodiversity is deadwood -  Ringbark ? Turn brash into chip wood 🪵 Another product to sell Birch - can let it grow and compete with chestnut, better to diversify than have a monoculture -  Popular- cut one down hundred come up Hazel 15 years for dormice - not ideal for products as harder to take down etc Larch - not quite as long lasting as western red but 2nd best lasting softwood Continuous Forest coverage type management- a new generation starting to use this - soft wood.  Woodland layers  Need a combination of all these layers to encourage biodiversity. 15% allowed by forestry commission for clearing to allow this diversity of layers Woodland assessment  Observation - carry out throughout the year and nighttime Find out what is there first before you know what to do. 1. Flora & fauna 2. Aspect/ topography - wind, sun, landscape, access - public or private - Can be good or bad aspects. Power lines etc. boundaries.  3. Soil samples 4. Disease 5. Water sources, streams, ponds 6. Past patterns of management  7. Ask local people  East bottom side less managed (mix of other trees other than sweet chestnut). A few blown over.  Bracken and lots of other ground cover on outer edge path but not much of anything other than canopy cover in left side. - # Woodland & the law Insurance - public liability Small woods insurance & ‘beech tree insurance.’ Employers liability Product liability Crop/fire insurance Professional indemnity insurance - ## Operators licenses Chainsaw tickets, correct ppe Legal status of woodlands - ### Legal Status SSSI (site of special scientific status) RAMSAR - wetlands woodland (Magic maps - government info about land status) TPO’s 🚫 🌳 Local council Species protection - wildlife and countryside act - badgers Habitats directive - all species of bats, dormice, otters, great crested newt, smooth snakes.. Planning law & woodland General development order Dwelling 28 day rule - allowed to stay 28 days of a calendar year. Seasonal forestry worker -  Planning permission - much easier to get for agricultural than forestry.  The two test for assessment are: 1. income - usually minimum wage for forestry work 2. Essential need to be there -  Different in Wales: One planet development  Just have to show that you are leading a low impact lifestyle. Eg, where is your income coming from, only need 25% income from your land. Ecological land coop scheme Forestry building Less restrictions on building in forests compared to agriculture land rules and regulations.  Needs to be working business ### Felling licences 🪪 - can be valid for 10 years - don’t need a licences if you’re just felling 8cm or less - DBH (diameter at breast height) 1.3meters height - 150mm allowed for coppicing at DBH - 5 cubit meters allowed without a licences - During set Quarter times of the year - Taxation - No tax on selling lumber. But is on coppice. If you sharpen and end or strip the bark the lumber than become taxable. 2023-04-17 # Silvrcultural practices Coppice - osiers-willows - shortest type of coppice. 1-2 years Hybrid willows - poplars. 2 year Hazel - 5-7 years Chestnut - 3 years (eg walking sticks). Max 35 years (roofing shakes, timber framing poles.) Splits easily, durable. Garden and building market. Hornbeam - very slow growth - good for charcoal & firewood Sycamore - basically a maple. Benefits- build up good pattern for plants. Butterfly species and birds and plants get used to this rotation-cycle. Human impact is one of only systems where human element increases biodiversity. Patchwork patterning of biodiversity. #### Wood pasture Pollarding trees and letting light in. Leave branches on ground, [[Animals]] eat the bark then take the wood for firewood. Pollarding done in winter when sap has gone down. ### Plantations Every green or mixed. Grow long, straight stems, few side stems for high timber sale. Epicormal growth - thinning in a few stages then clearing. Has some problems with erosion, but is still the main practice we use in Britain. Beech, Lawson cyprus examples of what is typically used. High risk of wind blow compared to continuous growth areas. Single age species susceptible to being blown over. ### Continuous cover Europe has been doing continuous growth for much longer than Britain, we’re just starting to do it. Smaller plots of types. Much greater variety of age types, closely knit together. Not big areas, but small ones. Great for soil retention. Timber - standing timber - lowest value Felled timber - buyer can asses the quality, price goes up. Buyer extracts it. Extracted. Either rides or roads sides. Road side premium price value. All tax free as they are lumber Adding value (taxable) Sawing up yourself - green timber. Air dried with sticks separating. Moisture only comes out the ends. Logs Cord wood - has to be under 20% moisture to be able to sell and burn well. Ready to burn scheme - good intentions to stop people burning green wood. Certification scheme. 2 cubit meter loads and you don’t need to comply with ready to burn scheme. Kiln dried. Energy cost higher. They will get moisture content back if stored in moisture air place compared to air dried wood. - charcoal - Wood chip Got to balance how to sell your product compared to how much resources/land you have to manage. # Establishing woodland - Soil analysis - has it been ploughed a lot? Been grassland? - Topography/aspect - Natural regeneration - letting the natural growth of species - planting/sowing - order trees. Usually bare root whips. Always keep wrapped up until last minute of planting - wind can damage root hairs. 1 U 2. 1 + 2. Means 1 year in soil and either undercut or transplanted. - Swales - making small ridges for protection on dry slopes. Holds water. - Fencing - Fence early could be a good choice-protect from deer.. Could use tree tubes-stake so tube (and tree) stay upright. January - design wood/order trees May - chisel plough July/August - order fencing/tubes/stakes/mulch mats Sept - prep land October - fence Winter planting Maintenance program after all this # planting We have to experiment for the future - take some risks as we don’t really know what will work well in the future regarding climate change. For example Kent is predicted to have similar temps to Sicily in 50 years time, 40 C. - Maybe plant 1/3 as native species. Then look at similar species about 10 degrees south of situated planting area. - Timber producing and food producing trees that look that they might cope with higher temps. Agro-forestry. ![[Ben Law climate 1.m4a]] Maritime pine, coast redwood, swamp cyprus, black walnut, hickory (a good ash replacement?) - trees and plants that grow in arboretums are good indicators of what will grow in future climates here in Britain. ![[Ben Law Climate 2.m4a]] Beech is unlikely to survive in the south but may migrate and do well in Scotland for example. Forestry commission is under the umbrella of Natural England, which is fundamentally a conservation organisation, built on keeping things the way they are. 25 years ago the emphasis would have been on native species - now it has to be trying new things that might be able to survive. A toddler is maybe the most adaptable age, in a tree this would be equilivant to a 70 year old tree - so we need to start planting now. 2023-04-18 ## Tree diseases and pests More diseases then ever before - more aware then before but also because of climate change. Many are on the edge of their [[Comfort]] zones and not able to adapt. Phytophera - hosts on plants and spreads to trees. Plant based pathogen, spreads by wind. Can transfer by dirt on foot. Ramorum - effects larch, sweet chestnut, oak Alni - effects Alder Austroceare - juniper Lateraus- Lawson cyprus Keroniae - oak, cornnaii Pluvaris - western hemlock, Douglas fir Chalara (ash die back) Dutch elm disease Chestnut blight All these are majority because we have monoculture systems - they can spread from 1 to another so much easier. ## Insect pests Asian long horn beetle IPS typographus - eight toothed European bark beetle Oak procession art moth - hairs get into lungs and can’t be removed. Grey squirrel - breed pretty much throughout the year. Pox virus carried through greys, who it doesn’t affect, but does when passed to reds. Ring bark trees which reds don’t… and they breed much faster. - [ ] Deer - deer act 1995. 🆔 bkAvrk #books # measuring Hubris formula. Measure length then half way of length measure circumference. Give you the cubit meters overall. Hoppus feet: 21% less than true square foot to allow for bark ect. Cord wood: # Selling & marketing timber and timber products Raw lumber - can approach saw mills. Can advertise (eg woodlots (‘woodlands eBay’) Craft produce. Etsy. Farmers markets, wood fairs. Craft fair. Garden shows/centres. Festivals. Village fetes. Websites. Film companies. You need to be a woodsman, than a craftsman and then marketing. You need to put time into all 3. # non-timber products - Education - bushcraft - Well-being - - Foraging - wild food (hunting/shooting.) - Recreation - mountain biking, walking, bird watching, guided walks - Orienteering - - Research - - ‘Kilfinan community Forest’ - Green burials - place near west Meon. Large income for them. - Weddings - Camping - Photography/Art/theatre - Real & pretend military exercises - Seed collection - Filming - Minimal extraction (law abiding) - Bees - Corporate events # community social forestry - Forest schools - - Coppice groups - - Co-ownership & Co-operatives - ‘Tinkers bubble’ - Voluntary groups - - Citizen science - - Dedicated community woodlands - - ‘Thrive’ community initiation charities for mental health - Forestry commission land - owned by the people. Good to remember, as government tried selling it off recently. - Common land - - Ecological land cooperative - Machinery pools - share tractors with timber cranes etc. important to look at the maintenance clause A lot of non-timber opportunities and social aspects available - [ ] [See-through news - climate change initiative ](things:///show?id=UU4DN8s5zcbgsBwNJ1G5tN) 🆔 n8SjRZ #Learn # Ben’s final thoughts SSSI - it’s on a rather suicidal path trying to do what it is, rather than adapting to changing times. Would prioritise planting new trees, hopefully some new experiments for future and if possible a way to stay involved with them once planted also.