I think that being able to see commercial forestry operations in Greno Woods is something we should be proud of. Sheffield Wildlife Trust are right to manage the woods in a balanced way and use the money from commercial timber operations to manage the woods for wildlife and recreation - new paths and fences do cost money! This country imports around 80% of the timber it uses, we all use wood and paper etc. so to see this crop grown and harvested in Sheffield, to then support the UK timber industry is surely also a good thing. OK it looks devastating (it has been the wettest winter for 100 years!) and it is a mess - but we have had 40 years of enjoyment of the woods as it has grown and will have plenty more to come - if you don't like the felling my advice would be to stick to the areas that have not been affected and come back in a year. And lets not worry about the wildlife - it will thrive in the new habitats - this is a great chance to learn about woodland management first hand rather than vent off in ignorance. Please give it time and your support folks - without SWT the woods could have been bought by a private company who would not care what any of us thought!
The Wildlife Trust is managing the woodland principally for the benefit of wildlife, and then for the public, improving access for a wider range and greater number of people. The people in the video are upset at what they see as destruction without understanding woodland management. UK wildlife loves managed woodland. It has been living in managed woodland for hundreds of years and has adapted extremely well to it. In under 5 years the people in this video will be pleasantly surprised to see an increase in butterflies and other flying insects and hear more birdsong as the ground flora, range of habitats and age structure increases. Managed woodland has better biodiversity than unmanaged. Native broadleaf also has better biodiversity than conifer. Money made from selling the wood will be ploughed back into improving the woodland for wildlife and site users. The Wildlife Trust is a charity, there are no shareholders. Beech is a stunning tree, it looks amazing and is the largest tree growing in the UK. It's non native and comparatively poor for wildlife. Walk through beech woodland and the only thing on the floor under it, is beech leaves. Taking a few beech out will open the canopy, allow light in and other species to colonise the ground and understory. Thinning native species, such as birch and oak, where appropriate, will also increase biodiversity and is a necessity if they are dangerous and near public rights of way. With a little help, I think the people in the video could quite easily be reassured that the Wildlife Trust knows exactly what it is doing and that it has the best interests of the woodland and people of Sheffield at heart.
Information re SWT + the woods - www.wildsheffield.com/nature-reserves/more-about-our-reserves/greno-woods Meetings on the page - "Reserve Advisory Group meetings (RAG) Grenoside Conservation Society is now holding every other meeting as a Reserve Advisory Group for the woods. Anyone with an interest in the woods is welcome to attend. Please email our reserves team to find out more."
The pine were grown as a cash crop; they are ready for taking down - look at Langsett and other woodland around the city and in North Derbyshire. The Woodland Trust made it clear from the beginning that the trees would be harvested and the profit ploughed back into Greno Woods.
To me, this seems to suggest that the Wildlife Trust need to hold a public meeting to provide as much info as possible and answer questions. Communication is essential.
The information is already out there and very easy to find. There are already meetings that locals can attend and there are opportunities every month to get directly involved and/or speak to the SWT. See links above. There is also a complete lack of understanding by those featured on how working woods are managed or even why bridleways may have have waterbars.
This film is very one sided, there's no denying that but this isn't a professional shoot and the views are that of the individuals. The footage was shot by a local guy who I've got to know over the years. He's been filming the wildlife in the woods up here for years then, more recently has turned his camera on the other folks in the wood when the trees started being felled. So this is just the people he met in the woods, the locals. Personally, my opinion is mixed. The woods should be there for everyone's enjoyment but what the wildlife trust seems to miss out is... The wildlife! How can chopping vast areas of broadleaf woodland down be helpful for the wildlife?? This seems to be more than woodland management. They've disturbed the roe deer, a sparrow hawk's nest and felled trees metres away from a badger set and chopped trees down that green woodpeckers were nesting in. It doesn't make sense for the wildlife and it looks a complete mess now. I amongst others can only hope that they do know what they're doing in the long run but by having a complete disregard for the present wildlife (or ignorance it seems) then they're not helping matters in the eyes of the locals. I need to look into more but all I know is that there are a lot of upset people. The next plan is to organise a meeting to get everyone together and find out what is going on and yes, get more people talking.
Very one sided views here. And think if no felling took place could risk large areas of trees falling or dieing from old age. Healthy woods have a broad age structure and open glades where animals like deer graze. With regard to the bridal way the raised dirt bats are to prevent the surfacing washing away in heavy rains and are constructed to an approved horse friendly standard. Bit yes it sounds like SWT's consultation did not reach all concerned.
The people in this film are very uneducated in the point of conservation work and the history of our native woodlands and im guessing none have ever had any involvement in woodland management or any type of conservation based work....
Horses can injure them self on them bumps, I use to go up on that path all the time but stopped going on it because my horse kept on tripping up on them. I don't have a problem with them It's just they need to make them more visible to horses.
I think that being able to see commercial forestry operations in Greno Woods is something we should be proud of. Sheffield Wildlife Trust are right to manage the woods in a balanced way and use the money from commercial timber operations to manage the woods for wildlife and recreation - new paths and fences do cost money! This country imports around 80% of the timber it uses, we all use wood and paper etc. so to see this crop grown and harvested in Sheffield, to then support the UK timber industry is surely also a good thing. OK it looks devastating (it has been the wettest winter for 100 years!) and it is a mess - but we have had 40 years of enjoyment of the woods as it has grown and will have plenty more to come - if you don't like the felling my advice would be to stick to the areas that have not been affected and come back in a year. And lets not worry about the wildlife - it will thrive in the new habitats - this is a great chance to learn about woodland management first hand rather than vent off in ignorance. Please give it time and your support folks - without SWT the woods could have been bought by a private company who would not care what any of us thought!
Thanks! I needed a laugh this morning.
The Wildlife Trust is managing the woodland principally for the benefit of wildlife, and then for the public, improving access for a wider range and greater number of people.
The people in the video are upset at what they see as destruction without understanding woodland management. UK wildlife loves managed woodland. It has been living in managed woodland for hundreds of years and has adapted extremely well to it. In under 5 years the people in this video will be pleasantly surprised to see an increase in butterflies and other flying insects and hear more birdsong as the ground flora, range of habitats and age structure increases. Managed woodland has better biodiversity than unmanaged. Native broadleaf also has better biodiversity than conifer.
Money made from selling the wood will be ploughed back into improving the woodland for wildlife and site users. The Wildlife Trust is a charity, there are no shareholders.
Beech is a stunning tree, it looks amazing and is the largest tree growing in the UK. It's non native and comparatively poor for wildlife. Walk through beech woodland and the only thing on the floor under it, is beech leaves. Taking a few beech out will open the canopy, allow light in and other species to colonise the ground and understory. Thinning native species, such as birch and oak, where appropriate, will also increase biodiversity and is a necessity if they are dangerous and near public rights of way.
With a little help, I think the people in the video could quite easily be reassured that the Wildlife Trust knows exactly what it is doing and that it has the best interests of the woodland and people of Sheffield at heart.
Information re SWT + the woods - www.wildsheffield.com/nature-reserves/more-about-our-reserves/greno-woods
Meetings on the page -
"Reserve Advisory Group meetings (RAG)
Grenoside Conservation Society is now holding every other meeting as a Reserve Advisory Group for the woods. Anyone with an interest in the woods is welcome to attend. Please email our reserves team to find out more."
This is happening now in Greno Woods! Here's what the locals think about the management of the woods by Sheffield Wildlife Trust.
The pine were grown as a cash crop; they are ready for taking down - look at Langsett and other woodland around the city and in North Derbyshire. The Woodland Trust made it clear from the beginning that the trees would be harvested and the profit ploughed back into Greno Woods.
To me, this seems to suggest that the Wildlife Trust need to hold a public meeting to provide as much info as possible and answer questions. Communication is essential.
The information is already out there and very easy to find. There are already meetings that locals can attend and there are opportunities every month to get directly involved and/or speak to the SWT. See links above. There is also a complete lack of understanding by those featured on how working woods are managed or even why bridleways may have have waterbars.
Jeremy Lawrence Thanks Jez. Hope this info finds its way to some of the people in the film.
Sadly some folk are not actually interested in the facts, judging by comments left on SWT page.
And if you want to actually help with maintaining the woods......
www.wildsheffield.com/events/2014/01/24/volunteer-work-days-greno-woods
OK, I've not seen the place, these locals are reporting old birch trees being killed...
This film is very one sided, there's no denying that but this isn't a professional shoot and the views are that of the individuals. The footage was shot by a local guy who I've got to know over the years. He's been filming the wildlife in the woods up here for years then, more recently has turned his camera on the other folks in the wood when the trees started being felled. So this is just the people he met in the woods, the locals.
Personally, my opinion is mixed. The woods should be there for everyone's enjoyment but what the wildlife trust seems to miss out is... The wildlife! How can chopping vast areas of broadleaf woodland down be helpful for the wildlife?? This seems to be more than woodland management.
They've disturbed the roe deer, a sparrow hawk's nest and felled trees metres away from a badger set and chopped trees down that green woodpeckers were nesting in. It doesn't make sense for the wildlife and it looks a complete mess now. I amongst others can only hope that they do know what they're doing in the long run but by having a complete disregard for the present wildlife (or ignorance it seems) then they're not helping matters in the eyes of the locals.
I need to look into more but all I know is that there are a lot of upset people. The next plan is to organise a meeting to get everyone together and find out what is going on and yes, get more people talking.
A very one sided video IMO - It would have been nice to include statements from the owners and from the MTB community that invest in these woods.
Be good to hear some views from a balanced cross section of users. Without this it comes across as another Daily Mail fueled hate-rant.
These appear to be non-indiginous trees, likely planted as managed woodland. Not very well managed by the looks of things, what a mess...
Very one sided views here. And think if no felling took place could risk large areas of trees falling or dieing from old age. Healthy woods have a broad age structure and open glades where animals like deer graze. With regard to the bridal way the raised dirt bats are to prevent the surfacing washing away in heavy rains and are constructed to an approved horse friendly standard. Bit yes it sounds like SWT's consultation did not reach all concerned.
The people in this film are very uneducated in the point of conservation work and the history of our native woodlands and im guessing none have ever had any involvement in woodland management or any type of conservation based work....
The story about how horses can injure themselves on some small bumps is complete rubbish
Horses can injure them self on them bumps, I use to go up on that path all the time but stopped going on it because my horse kept on tripping up on them. I don't have a problem with them It's just they need to make them more visible to horses.