Undertake woodland management
Woodland management is vital for community woodlands – it’s planning the future.
As trees are slow growing and long lived then woodland management has to take both a long term and a short term view. Short term is usually five years whilst long term is forty or fifty years. Access – for people and wildlife, sight lines, density of woodland cover, likely rate of tree growth are all considerations in management planning.
Management planning
Planning need not be complex – it is considering how a wood will look in the future and how it will happen.
- Publications –
- Llais y Goedwig Advisory note: ‘Writing a Managment Plan’
- Forest Research Publications: ‘Silviculture’
- Forestry Commission Scotland Advisory note: ‘Management planning for semi natural woodlands’
- Tree Source Publications: Various
- Tree Council Publication: Guide to Managing and Caring for Trees
- Confor report: ‘Upland forestry Wales, (Welsh Analysis of Land-use Economics & Subsidies) 2015’
- Forestry Commission Publication: ‘Ecosystem services and forest management’
- Experience –
- Llais y Goedwig Community Woodland Group Case Studies: Various
- Forest Research Community Woodland Case Studies: Various
- Blaen Bran Community Woodland Sample: ‘Woodland Management Plan’
- Golygfa Gwydyr Community Woodland Sample: ‘Woodland Management Plan’
- Llangattock Community Woodlands Sample: ‘Woodland Management Plan’
- Coed Ty Gwyn Community Woodland Sample: ‘Management Plan’
- Anonymous Community Woodland Sample: ‘Environmental Policy’
- Llais y Goedwig member blog: ‘Why creating community woodland experiences is vital to Natural Resources Wales’ evolving ecosystem approach’
- LlyG member blog: ‘Reporting back from RFS conference – Resilient Woodlands: Meeting the Challenges’
- Useful contacts –
- Llais y Goedwig Enquiry Service
- Natural Resources Wales: information & support for sustainable woodland management
- Natural Resources Wales: tree health and biosecurity
- myForest: free online tools for woodland management planning
- Glastir Woodland Management: sustainable land managment scheme for Wales
- UK Woodland Assurance Standard: independent certification standard for verifying sustainable woodland management in the UK
- Sylva Foundation: information & support for sustainable woodland management
- National Soil Resources Institute: information & support identify soil type
- Forest Research: tools to support forest managment decisions
- Continuous Cover Forestry Group: information & support
- Coed Cymru: information and support on management of woodlands and the sustainable use of woodland product
Licenses and permissions
Working in a woodland may need licenses – for thinning or felling, or legal permissions – such as planning consents for structures.
- Publications –
- Experience –
- Useful contacts –
Safety and skills
Having safe systems of work, and the appropriate skills, is important when using tools and equipment in the wood.
- Publications –
- Experience –
- Blaen Bran Woodland Services Sample: ‘Health & Safety Policy’
- Golygfa Gwydyr Community Woodland Sample: ‘Generic Risk Assessment’
- Llangattock Community Woodlands Sample: ‘General Safety Procedures & Risk Assessments’
- Anonymous Community Woodland Sample: Health and Safety Policy Statement
- Blaen Bran Community Woodlands Sample: ‘Tree Survey’
- Woodland Heritage Blog: ‘Just one of those days’
- Useful contacts –
- Llais y Goedwig Enquiry Service
- Forest Industry Safety Accord: information & support for forestry safety
- Focus on Forestry First: information & support for foresty work development
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE): general health & safety information & support
- Agored Cymru: health & safety training
Broadleaved woodland
Broadleaf trees – such as oak or beech– may need particular planning, being more slow growing and long lasting than conifers.
- Publications –
- Forest Research Publications: ‘Managing Native Upland Woodlands’
- Forest Commission Wales Publications: ‘Management of Ancient Woodlands’
- Plantlife Publication: ‘Management of woodland plants in Atlantic broadleaved woodland’
- Open University: Publication: ‘Woodland Habitats’
- Tree Source Publications: Various
- Experience –
- Useful contacts –
- Llais y Goedwig Enquiry Service
- The Woodland Trust/Coed Cadw: UK’s Leading woodland conservation charity aims to plant and protect native woodlands
- Coed Cymru: information and support on management of woodlands and the sustainable use of woodland products
- Treborth Botanic Garden National Vegetation Classification garden: live education resource to help students identify key species that indicate several different woodland communities, based on the NVC
Conifer woodlands
Coniferous trees are often grown in plantation style – close together. Quick growing, they need a planned thinning regime.
- Publications –
- Experience –
- Useful contacts –
Managing for wildlife
To encourage wildlife, take time to observe what already exists and look to encourage different types of habitat.
- Publications –
- Plantlife Publication: ‘Forestry Recommissioned – Revitalising the Woodlands of Wales’
- Joint Nature Conservation Committee Publication: ‘UK Post 2010 Biodiversity Framework
- Forest Research Publications: ‘Woodland Biodiversity and Ecology’
- Powys County Council Action plan: ‘Hazel Dormouse’
- Tree Source Publications: Various
- Natur Cymru: quartly magazine about nature and environment in Wales
- Defra: Hedgerow Survey handbook – a standard procedure for local surveys in the UK
- Experience –
- Managing for biodiversity Report: Coed Phoenix Community Woodland Nature Reserve
- Treborth Botanic Garden National Vegetation Classification garden: live education resource to help students identify key species that indicate several different woodland communities, based on the NVC
- Blaen Bran Community Woodland Sample: ‘Ecological Survey Report’
- Managing for biodiversity Report: Coed Phoenix Community Woodland Nature Reserve
- Useful contacts –
- Llais y Goedwig Enquiry Service
- Keep Wales Tidy: Long Forest Project
- Wildlife Trusts Wales: information & support on protecting wildlife
- Plantlife Cymru: information & support on protecting wildlife
- Biological Records Centre: UK focus for terrestrial and freshwater species recording
- Ispot: information & support on wildlife identification
- The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL): UK-wide citizen science initiative network
- Welsh Association of Countryside and Conservation Management
- Natural History Museum: Citizen Science projects
Managing for timber
For timber, observe what grows well on the site, and think how timber will be accessed for thinning and felling.
- Publications –
- Wales Forest Business Partnership Report: ‘Woodland Management in Wales – Recent Research and Implications for Policy’
- National Forest Publication: ‘Pruning for Quality’
- Woodland Heritage Publication: ‘Formative Pruning Guide’
- Woodland Heritage Publication: ‘High Pruning Guide’
- Tree Source Publications: Various
- Experience –
- Useful contacts –
- Llais y Goedwig Enquiry Service
- Wales Forest Business Partnership: information & support from industry led group from across the timber and wood products sector
- Coed Cymru: information and support on management of woodlands and the sustainable use of woodland products
- Woodland Heritage: information and support on woodland products
Urban Woodlands
Woodland management is essential, both rurally and in urban environments.
- Publications –
- Experience –
- Web blog: ‘Toronto community the value of urban forests’
- Web blog: http: ‘Green cities provide demonstrable health benefits’
- LlyG members blog – Ground breaking urban tree research shared at urban community woodland Beaufort
- Natural Resources Wales blog – ‘World first’ survey reveals the benefit of urban trees in Wales
- Web blog: ‘Toronto community the value of urban forests’
- Useful contacts –
Diseases, pest and non-native species
- Publications –
- Experience –
- Useful contacts –
Climate Change
- Publications –
- LlyG Publication: ‘An introduction to Climate Change’
- LlyG Publication: ‘Climate Change Reader – 4o collated articles on woodlands and climate change’
- Sylva Publication: ‘Awareness, action and aspiration among Britain’s forestry community relating to environmental change: Report of the British Woodlands Survey 2015’
- Experience –
- Useful contacts –
Heritage
Many woodlands come with layers of social, cultural and environmental history to investigate and preserve.
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- Experience –
- Useful contacts –