Could do with some advice

[Scottie]

I have been asked in a round about sort of way if I would be interested in looking after a woodland, a small one. I would really like to because it would be good on my c.v and it is also a challenge.

 

I have had a walk round it twice and it is full of sycamore mostly, some ash, oak which all seem to be about 35 yrs old, and a few mature beech trees. There is a permissive right of way, a footpath and a small river, (I don't know what you would call it in England, a beck?) The owner of the woodland passed away and the family would be quite happy for someone to come up with some sort of management plan for it.

 

What I want to know is really, how much of an undertaken would it be, financal and time, who could I contact and are there any other threads that I could be shown to. It is going to be a very steep learning curve.

 

I had a thought that I could ask other interest parties if they would want to help out.

 

Thanks Scott

[Charlieh]

Hi,

 

not much direct help but i did a course run by the small woods association "an introduction to woodland management planning" which comes with a recognized qualification and is about £100, it was really interesting and made me notice lots more features in a woodland than i ever had before, also i would say Ben Laws book "the woodland way" is pretty handy to have for someone in your situation.

 

link to the course: http://www.greenwoodcentre.org.uk/6JulyIntrotoSmallWoodlandManagement25-26October2008.php

[ecolojim]

not to mention if you're very quick off the mark defra/forestry commission have some grants in application stage for costs involved in developing management plans, and costs involved in the actual practical operation of managing a broadleafed woodland

[Andy Collins]

I was told you have to move quicker than greased **** to qualify for those grants. Very few applications, from what I have been told, are succesfull, but by all means try.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Only problem with woodland grants are the conditions, ie you must plant this, you must underplant that, you must replace this with that and within a certain timeframe.

 

For the amount you get the conditions aren't worth it (for me anyway)

[Quickthorn]

I'd get in touch with your local Forestry Commission office and see if there's anyone there who can help you.

 

The first step might be getting a survey and management plan in place. A cheap way might be to contact your local ag. college, see if there are any students who would do it as part of a project or dissertation. It sounds like the main task would be to start taking out a lot of the sycamore and either replanting with other natives that occur in the wood already (oak, ash etc) or allowing natural regeneration - except for sycamore.

 

This is a good book for someone new to this..

 

Caring for Small Woods Top row, middle book.

[Scottie]

Thanks so much for all the help and advice. Thats a great idea about contacting the local arg college, I think all just do that.

 

Things will be going slowly because I will need to find out first what wildlife is present throughout the year. I will be removing the sycamores which will probaly go for firewood.

Do you think it would be a good idea to get in contact with the local wildlife trust or I am going to open up a can of worms?

[Quickthorn]

Do you think it would be a good idea to get in contact with the local wildlife trust or I am going to open up a can of worms?

 

I think it depends on the Wildlife Trust. They seem to be very different from county to county, and it will depend on the person you actually speak to. Just in my experience, some of them are all for woods being worked to some extent, others are total non-interventionists who would have you fence the whole site off and never venture in there. Personally, I'd be giving the local Forestry Commission officer a ring, and see what advice they could give.

 

The survey would help you find out if there might be anything in there that's protected. What is especially important now is bat habitats..you're most likely to disturb these when working a wood, and if you do, you've broken the law, regardless of any precautions you may have taken. There are other protected species, such as some types of newts and dormice.

 

One thing that you might want to avoid is improving access to the general public any more than you are obliged to. I've seen woods where access has been improved greatly, but it has attracted an awful lot of dog walkers (some of whom drive there especially!), with increased incidences of dog muck, dogs out of control, noise and litter, and a reduction in the amount of wildlife in the wood.

[David oakman]

They will give you advise like when you cut a blackthorn thicket let it come back thick for the hawfinches but who wants blackthorn in a working wood apart from shooting woods.

[Charlieh]

I think it depends on the Wildlife Trust. They seem to be very different from county to county, and it will depend on the person you actually speak to. Just in my experience, some of them are all for woods being worked to some extent, others are total non-interventionists who would have you fence the whole site off and never venture in there. Personally, I'd be giving the local Forestry Commission officer a ring, and see what advice they could give.

 

I work for the wildlife trusts and this advice is so true each area will have its own policies on what it wants to see, might be best to speak to FC (if your wanting to take a more commertial approach) or come up with a plan or long term stratergy with what you want to see happen then contact people so you dont get lead down one path over another. You can then discuss with them how to meet your targets and fit theirs in as well