Small Woodlands - Challenges and Opportunities. Wood For The Trees #6, Doug King-Smith at Hillyfield
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- Опубликовано: 26 июн 2024
- Wood for the Trees considers the future of our forests, woodland management, climate change and the future for locally-grown timber. In part six Doug King-Smith talks about the challenges and rewards of managing The Hillyfield Woodland Farm in Dartmoor. Introduced by Tom Barnes, managing director of Vastern Timber, and filmed by Charly Le Marchant at The Hillyfield in Dartmoor, and at Vastern Timber's site in Royal Wootton Bassett, during September and October 2020.
Doug discusses dealing with pests and disease at the Hillyfield, as he works to bring the woodland back to life. He talks about a hostile planning system which struggles to recognise that small scale woodland management is even “forestry". Doug says that the problem of small woodlands being under managed needs to be addressed by policy changes at governmental level. He says that if we want woodlands that nurture humans and communities, then bringing in volunteers and delivering training is valuable, and should be recognised as an important part of small woodland management.
00:00 Small Woodlands - Challenges and Opportunities
01:04 Definition of small woodlands; percentage of total woodland cover in UK
01:23 Doug King-Smith on restoring The Hillyfield Woodland Farm in Dartmoor; Phytophthora ramorum, forestry training for women, encouraging woodland culture, community workshops, The Woodland Olympics
04:54 Planning challenges for small woodlands; the value of small woodlands and working with volunteers in forestry
05:32 Defra funding and building oak timber frame barns with master builder Henry Russell
06:25 Hopes for small woodlands in the UK: Woodland culture restored, reforestation, integration
07:19 Fears for small woodlands in the UK: Pests and diseases, squirrel damage
07:43 Lack of understanding of woodland management needs; infrastructure, access
07:59 Funding sources for woodlands focused on larger woodlands
08:25 Firewood industry changes, access to accreditation and equipment
09:15 ELMS Environmental Land Management Stewardship
09:29 Policy Suggestion: Woodland restoration given priority over planting, planting and management plans, adding value to woodland products, making a living from forestry
10:18 Summary and lessons learnt
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Great to see this film highlighting Doug King Smith and the Hillyfield's work. With the right support and obstacles out the way, small woods can provide, diverse livelihoods (firewood, charcoal/turning/fencing/local construction materials/forage to name a few, as well as great hands on volunteering, apprenticing and education opportunities). "Small is beautiful" as E Schumacher highlighted, so you don't even have to own a wood, just enlightened owners seeing the possibilities and local authorities and govt turning policies to support not obstruct woodland livlihoods and culture and the necessary low impact infrastructure to enable them to thrive. The enthusiasm is there. The need at this time of Brexit, covid and climate couldn't be more pressing. There can and I believe should still be areas within existing woods left to the wilds, yet wonderfully some managment and the right plan will actually enhance diversity so this is Win win for people, wildlife, employment, local economy, climate...Doug has had to fight so riduculously hard for this to be understood, so now authorities please, here is a time and opportunity to show you've woken up to the regenerative opportunities of supporting folks to work with the land!!!
Excellent work. We can't wait to see all that's going on this weekend when we visit! with the Land Workers Alliance Woody Branch!
small woodland owner here and this spoke to me. i've owned my 3 acre wood for 4 years and got nowhere. the law is vague and impenetrable, planning is too constrained, funding schemes are opaque, and climate change and the pests and disease spread that are driven by it form a ticking time bomb that could undo any planting i consider by changing the conditions faster than the trees can adapt or reach maturity. in the next few months i will fell all my larch due to phytopthera, just like doug - though thankfully it's not the whole of my stand. and now another lockdown (- too little too late -) means i can't travel to my woodland even for recreation. it's a shame because it means plans like the national forest can't work under present conditions because of the obstacles that prevent forestry from being a sustainable industry outside of industrial timber production. my personal feeling is that forest gardening is a beautiful, prosaic solution to the jobs/food security/carbon capture/landscape and environment conundrum we all face but there's almost no incentive or help to move woodlands in that direction
Thanks so much for pointing this video out to me. We definitely need more Doug’s, that’s for sure. We are small woodland owners and we’ve managed to save a beautiful old Yew Tree . We’re eager to learn so much more to manage our woodland.
Thanks for your videos here on your channel.
Diane 🌳 Woodland Tales
Hi and hello. I'm in the process of searching for a piece of woodland so this has been so useful...everyday's a learning day! I'll keep coming back now I've subscribed. A huge thankyou again.😊
So inspiring, giving a boost to small woodland owners like myself who are at the early stages of the learning process.
I 100 % agree with this man
Great video! Well done Doug and Wood For Trees 😊💛🍁🍂
We also need more 'unmanaged' woodland as well.....
Totally agree…we seem to feel the need to control everything…and call it “improvement “ I had a field of “improved “grassland which was nothing more than a green desert. I”unimproved “it and now it is full of voles and small mammals which in turn attracts kestrels owls foxes,weasels etc I think there is an inbuilt fear of the “wildwood” and the “forest sauvage”. My modest woodland has been enthusiastically allowed to go it’s own way
I also agree, those that want to manage their woods should be helped but non or minimal intervention should always be an option and not be ignored as a management choice, it also should attract the same level of help and advice as any other management system.
@@hotelsierra86 I could not agree more!
Actually unmanaged woodland is worse for wildlife than a properly managed woodland. Us humans have basically taken over the role of Aurochs and short tusk elephants in the woodland by creating openings for light to get through etc. management is always needed whether it’s done by humans or animals but a habitat always needs managing.
@@spencersanderson1894 Well thats where the reintroduction of large herbivores comes in. Us humans OVER managed them out of existence in the British Isles...
Great video thank you.
A large part of the problem is that whilst small woods are classed as those under 20ha in size, this just demonstrates how small woods are misunderstood by the establishment.
In fact there is a huge number of woods of less than 1 acre and still more of 1 to 5 acres in size. The number of woods in this size range is rising rapidly.
This size of wood has been seen as not viable for economic production by the forestry commission since it was established and therefore such woods did not fit the brief for the forestry commission and so have largely been ignored.
Furthermore the various governments and councils over many years for obvious reason took advice on forestry matters from the forestry commission hence why such small woods do not figure in most of the policies, especially when it involves funding.
I do think that this situation is now beginning to be recognised to some extent, but there has been previous little change in policy making and attitude in this direction so far.
Old ideas and attitudes are hard to shift BUT THEY MUST if we want Woodlands to be better managed.
Hi Doug,Thank you for you love of forest Gong Omz from Eddy
love tree's
We're hosting a live Q&A about this film on 22 November at 3pm: ruclips.net/video/hMQXf8-fkuc/видео.html
Very interesting. I am learning all the time more about how to manage my 4 acre woodland. Its a fascinating journey, and there is no doubt that woodlands need managing, as a pose to rewilding, which really means going to seed. I can see the great benefits from effective management and utilisation of these precious resources, both for humans, and for all the wildlife, which is my particular interest. Thanks for a very interesting discussion on woodland management 👍🙏
How to plant broadleaf trees
It's not just no to a United Ireland it's no to indepence for Scotland
Prefer to allow my wood to manage itself. Luckily I don’t have to earn a living from it,but apart from a small Christmas tree plantation,I let it go it’s own way. Small scale rewilding. Probably not a good idea for the commercial boys, but for me less work and more biodiversity. It’s what we all want,isn’t it?
I'm so glad to hear this.
Leaving woodlands to ‘just get on with it’ has actually been shown to gradually reduce biodiversity.
In effect human led interventions has taken over from what the Aurochs & short tusked mammoths used to do, which affected the evolution of our trees & now our practice of opening up light within the forest canopy to allow for all the birds & insects…
Ladies Wood was the study woodland I think if you want to follow up.
@@waterbirdsong1 Where is Ladies Wood? I would like to learn more. Thanks
how can the local councils and goverment give permission to some thing that has been around for thousands of years.
I hope the woodlands on dartmoor remain unmanaged! Leave them alone to look after itself, not everything needs human intervention.. Quite the opposite!
All those people banging on about leaving woodlands unmanaged clearly know nothing about habitats and the environment so just shut up and leave it to the people who do understand and know.
theres almost no Forest in the UK. Learn from Germany.....