Management plan needed

[barrowC]

Hello everyone, I haven't posted on here before but am familiar with the site.

We have a 2acre mixed deciduous wood with an ancient woodland planning designation on it just West of Dumbarton and its in need of a bit of work which we will do ourselves but don't want to step on anyone's toes( council, FC or local judiciary) without having all the nessecary licences and plan in place. Basically looking for recommendations of people who carry out survey/plan and felling app'ns (thinning sycamore etc). Thanks.

[7610]

Are you after a FC grant?

[barrowC]

Grants not the first thing on my mind. Prepared to take on fencing, felling planting costs etc just as usual business. It being designated ancient I don't want to fall foul of any official party. Mostly my judgement would err on the side of enthusiastic amateur and I can see that approach getting holes poked in it by above mentioned parties. Don't really have the time or energy to argue out a case even if we are doing the correct thing- would rather have a document and accompanying permits in my hand to fend them off with (don't want to say ducks in a row but....). Might even learn something as well.

[Paul in the woods]

You can write your own management plan and produce your own felling licence application (or work out if you do need one) using this free tool: https://sylva.org.uk/myforest/

 

I used it to do my plan for a 10 acre wood, it took a fair bit of time but I learned a fair bit.

 

With only 2 acres and planning to thin you may not need a felling licence at all, no idea about the ancient woodland restriction.

 

You might get away with asking the FC round to advise if a plan/licence app is required, it'll depend on you local FC chap as to the help you get.

[barrowC]

Thanks for that, looks interesting indeed. Sound advice about the FC officer as well, the main reason for going through hoops is simply the ancient woodland designation. I am also not clear who actually assess's areas to be "ancient", I had thought it was purely the jurisdiction of local council? Searching for the number now!

[Paul in the woods]

From my experience there's loads of help and info out there but pulling it all together took a fair bit of time. Also the various government departments and advice doesn't always match up! A knowlageble pro would certainly save time.

 

Anyway, some other useful sites if you've not alread seen them.

 

First, the governments Magic site, very useful to see what designations your land has and to see what's going on around you, grants etc: Magic Map Application

 

And this might be useful as you may need to identify any heritage details on your woodland (so you don't damage them etc): HeritageGateway - Home

 

There's also loads of info on the FC site such as: Ancient woodland (England) although you'll have to search for your Scottish equivalent.

[DanSmallLGL]

Ancient Woodland is woodland that can be traced back as continuous cover from 1600's. As an ancient woodland the FC will not want to protect it, in terms of not loosing any ancient features (veteran trees, archaeology, ancient woodland plants such as bluebell).

If you are thinning a felling licence application will be very simple to complete, two sided form and map should be all that is needed.

However there are exemptions to the requirement for a felling licence. You can fell up to 5 cubic meters of timber a quarter (20 m3 a year) with out a felling licence. Any timber under 10cm diameter at breast height does not require a felling licence for thinnings (15cm for coppicing). So depending on your plans you may be able to get away without the need for one.

This advice is based on woodland in England so there may be slight differences in Scotland, but I cant imagine it being too different.

[10 Bears]

First, the governments Magic site, very useful to see what designations your land has and to see what's going on around you, grants etc: Magic Map Application

 

And this might be useful as you may need to identify any heritage details on your woodland (so you don't damage them etc): HeritageGateway - Home

 

There's also loads of info on the FC site such as: Ancient woodland (England) although you'll have to search for your Scottish equivalent.

 

Good links Paul, but I feel you may have missed one, which is probably my preference. The other links do have some overlap, but LIS is more directed to tree management being the FC provision:

 

Forestry Commission : GLADE : Land Information Search

 

There are Welsh and Scottish versions on their respective FC sites.

[Austin Spanners]

Hi, Dan is spot on about the felling licences and all the guys have mentioned very good sites for advice and help. I would also recommend speaking to your local F.C. officer.

 

In terms of grants, if ever you think about it, your holding is too small on its own. To access grants the area needs to be above 3ha and you and the land need to be registered with the Rural Payments Agency It is possible, if you have adjacent woods or hedges and friendly neighbours, to combine parcels to get the required base-line area. But in truth most of the grants are not worth the hassle, admin and other hoops you need to jump through.

 

As your wood is registered as ancient, it means at some point you local biological recording office (usually attached to the local wildlife trust but not exclusively) has been out and surveyed it and added it to your county's Ancient Woodland Inventory, so watch out for them snooping about.

 

 

The main point with ancient woodlands, which is often overlooked, is that it is the soil that is the ancient bit; it has never been ploughed, tilled, turned to pasture or in any other means cleared of trees. Thus, the soil composition is the same as it was before man started farming. Down here in the south that usually means that difficult to farm areas or royal hunting forests were left wooded. Obviously there may be several trees in excess of 400 years but mainly composed of younger specimens. In addition, it is any archaeological features within the woodland (such as wood banks / ditches, saw pits or any other signs of early use) which must be protected from damage.

 

 

Just be clear in what it is you want to do and why. Get a felling licence and ensure that you mitigate against unnecessary damage to the soil and features.

I always recommend that you have a clear understanding of what you have within the woodland as the law is very clear regarding European Protected Species (EPS), which includes, but not exclusively, bats, dormice, newts, many birds and plants. So check out the list provided by FC for Scotland and your equivalent of Natural England.

 

My final piece of advice and this is one I always use when working with asnw, is to state that you are looking to enhance the structure for biodiversity, by careful thinning, and creating and maintaining structural and light diversity within the woodland area. If possible, if your woodland is close to others, think about connectivity with hedges. These are all terms and activities that the 'bearded johnnies' like to hear and see undertaken.

 

I could go on for ages but you're probably bored by now, so I'll leave it ther and wish you luck with it.

You can always PM me for more specific advice should you require it.