The government will create three new ‘national forests’ to bring woodlands closer to people, the Minister for Nature said at a major forestry conference.
Mary Creagh MP said the Labour government was committed to planting millions of trees across the UK, during her keynote speech at the CLA, Forestry Commission and Grown in Britain’s conference at Newbury Racecourse.
She was among a varied line-up of speakers exploring the theme of ‘Products, People and Possibilities’, attended by 200 foresters, land managers, farmers and other key stakeholders.
The Minister told delegates that a productive forestry sector is “the backbone of many industries”, bringing economic, flood defence and carbon sequestration benefits. She said she was leading work around achieving a ‘circular economy’, and wanted to see an increase in the use of timber in construction.
CLA president Victoria Vyvyan opened the conference, which was supported by Pryor & Rickett Silviculture, Nicholsons and Michelmores. She said the UK imports too much, doesn’t plant enough, 40% of the UK’s forestry is not properly managed and it is insufficiently resilient to biosecurity hazards.
However, Ms Vyvyan was also optimistic, arguing the sector has a huge capacity for delivering growth in the rural economy. Well-managed woods and forests lock-up carbon and deliver increased biodiversity, she added.
Other speakers included John Deakin, head of trees and woodlands at the National Trust; Rob Penn, journalist, broadcaster and trustee of Woodland Heritage; Neil Macdonald, woodland ambassador, apple farmer and woodland owner; and Richard Stanford, Forestry Commission CEO.
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That’s a remarkable amount of work hours for a single machine, the Norcar 600 owned by Erkki Rinne is taken well care of, it even has the original Diesel engine.
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Kieran Anders is a forestry contractor working in the lake district. His work involves hand cutting and extracting timber using a skidder and tractor-trailer forwarder.
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It is not possible to eliminate chain shot, but there are simple steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.
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Arwel takes great pride in the fact that the mill has no waste whatsoever, “the peelings are used for children’s playgrounds, gardens and for farm animals in barns in the winter and the sawdust has multiple uses in gardens and farms as well.
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Timber hauliers need to encourage young blood in, and also look after the hauliers we have, we need make the sector a safe and positive place to work.
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Guy Nevill, of the Birling Estate in Kent, spoke of how it had started opening up its woodland to the public via a campsite more than a decade ago and had increased access and engagement since then, and moved into yoga and mindfulness.
Dan Geerah, director of growth at Land App, explored how digital tools can help planning for woodland creation in-line with the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) and agroforestry. Polly Bedford, director at UK Hardwoods, discussed the current market and future trends, exploring the decarbonisation of big projects, and how architects and interior designers are becoming more aware of product ‘story’ and carbon impact.
The conference will return in October 2025.
Forest Machine Magazine is written and edited by a forest professional with over 40 years hands on experience. We are dedicated to keeping you informed with all the latest news, views and reviews from our industry.
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