Chiltern Woodlands Project News of the Woods No 48 Summer 2012 and Annual Report 2011-2012 Chiltern Woodlands Project is a registered charity founded in 1989. It is based in the Chilterns Conservation Board’s offices. It works across the Chilterns Natural Area, which includes all the Chilterns AONB See our webpages at www.chilternsaonb.org/woodlands-project Managing Chiltern Woods Autumn colours - Boxmoor Trust Woods The Chiltern Society is delighted he Chilterns AONB is famous for its beech woods. Many of these woods to sponsor this Newsletter are ancient. The Chiltern Woodlands Project's aim is to promote and Latest news encourage the sensitive and sustainable care and management of woodland 700 gates and still more to be installed T in the Chiltern Hills. The Chiltern Society runs a campaign to replace stiles with kissing gates in order to improve Work is across five linked themes: access for all walkers to Chiltern footpaths. A. Landscape: to protect and enhance the wooded landscape of the Chilterns. This work is done in conjunction with B. Biodiversity: to maintain and enhance nature in the Chilterns. landowners and county councils. C. Economy: to promote a sustainable woodland economy in the Chilterns; including To date more than 700 kissing gates have been the use of timber and wood fuel. installed by our volunteers in Buckinghamshire D. Historic Environment: to raise awareness and interest in the history and and Oxfordshire and there are a further archaeology of woods across the Chilterns 70 gates waiting to be installed. E. Community: to increase awareness, understanding, and enjoyment of Chiltern We are developing stile-free walks. woodland. For details of walks and cycle rides, conservation groups and membership The Project offers an advisory service to help bring woods into management, working 01494 771250 in partnership with others including contractors and volunteer groups. www.chilternsociety.org.uk The Chiltern Woodlands Project is supported by the Chilterns Conservation Board, Buckinghamshire County Council, Three Rivers, South Oxfordshire, Chiltern, and Wycombe District Councils, Dacorum Borough Council, the Forestry Commission and the Chiltern Society. Registered in England as a Company Limited by guarantee no. 2357329. Registered charity no. 1002512. Chair man’s Report took over as Chairman from Cherry Aston in wholesale and retail markets. It is fair to say that forestry and the September of last year. My first and very growing of trees have formed a large part of my Ipleasurable duty is to thank her for 10 years life! I hope that the experience I have acquired of tireless work on behalf of the Chiltern can be used to good effect during my Woodlands Project. She leaves the project in rude chairmanship of the Project. good health, with a robust and dedicated committee, who have helped and guided me in my In March John organised a highly successful first year. Chiltern Woodlands Conference which was attended by some 50 delegates. I can also report My parents bought Greenfield Farm, where I live, that the revision and updating of the “Ancient in 1945, so I have spent my entire life in the Woodland Inventory” for the Chilterns AONB is Chilterns. When they purchased the farm there now complete and was launched in July. The where 57 acres of woodland and since then we area has been systematically mapped using have been able to add to this and our holding now modern GIS and another 1,231 hectares of stands at 360 acres, all of which is actively ancient woodland has been added to bring the managed. In addition to the woods we also have some 120,000 total to 11,058 hectares covering 13.2% of the Chilterns AONB. Christmas trees growing on the farm, which are sold in the Andrew Ingram, July 2012 Annual Report 2011-2012 For the period from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 The Chiltern Woodlands Project’s main activities are in the business plan 2009 – 2012, which is being revised and updated. Continue to provide a range of expert advisory and training services supporting woodland owners, to improve management skills and knowledge so that a greater area of woodland is included within long term sustainable management plans. Expand our influence to ensure that woods in the Chilterns get the support they need, and to build a sustainable rural economy, including energy resources. Raise awareness, understanding and enjoyment of the Chiltern woodlands through the website, newsletters, publications, and events. Help owners restore ancient woods including plantations on ancient woodland sites. Specific work items include: Supporting the Chilterns Conservation Board's AONB Management Plan 2008 -13 and its revision Promoting the management of grey squirrels, deer and other pests. The main areas of work in the last year included: Woodland advisory work Surveys and reports were written for The Chiltern Society on District Number of owners Area (ha) visited six potential sites with a total area of over 28ha. So advice or Chiltern 22 267.3 assistance was given on about 600 ha of woodland in the last Wycombe 10 92.0 year. South Bucks 1 9.0 Of the above, 12 owners have their woods in Forestry South Oxon 11 82.0 Commission approved long term plans; another 7 plans have Three Rivers 2 46.6 been submitted and are awaiting agreement. Felling licences Dacorum 5 73.9 have been obtained for a further 8 owners. The Project has Aylesbury Vale 1 0.2 been asked to write 3 more long term plans and apply for two Central Beds 0 felling licences in the coming year. At least 32 owners are Reading 1 1.5 being helped by the Project to get consent for work in their woods. The Project charges for this work. Total 53 572. 5 2 LEADER funded events and information sheets A visit to Woodmans Wood in November considered the felling and sale of conifers (see photos). Events in February to a mobile sawmill, operated by Steve Roberts, and a static sawmill, used by the National Trust at Ashridge, showed the utilisation of timber. A fourth workshop on woodland management plans and timber assessment was held at Stoke Row in March. Thanks to Alistair Yoemans of the Sylva Foundation for his help with these workshops. Work is planned to invite local contractors to put their details on the MyForest website directory of forestry businesses. www.sylva.org.uk/myforest/directories.php The information sheets can be downloaded from the Chiltern Woodlands Project's pages on the Chilterns AONB website see www.chilternsaonb.org/woodlands-project LEADER is also able to fund timber assessments in small woods (under 3ha) so if you would like a visit please contact the Project. Woodland assessment workshop near Stoke Row above and below: Felling and replanting in Woodmans Wood Stack of 36 foot long Douglas Fir Lorry loading bay, funded with a grant from Wood Fuel East Angling Spring Wood.. ..we help Chiltern District Council to manage this wood. Larch were thinned in the wood during the year and horse logging here featured on BBC Countryfile in the autumn. Prestwood Nature volunteers continued clearing some of the holly that is spreading through this wood, shading out the spring flowers such as bluebells, and opened up a new path through one of the plantations. Forwarder extracting larch 3 Bottom Wood Group volunteers Sunday morning workparties were held in The Chiltern Society's ancient woodland nature reserve. Volunteers replanted two small clearings, where firewood was felled in 2011, and also put in two deer exclosure plots to enable the impact of deer browsing on coppice regrowth and flora to be monitored, as part of the Forestry Commission grant scheme agreement. Bottom Wood volunteers tree planting Knocking in a stake for a deer exclosure Other work Woodland archaeology workshops John continues to assist the Chilterns Conservation Board at a Two woodland archaeology workshops were again held at number of its regular meetings including the Environment Pigotts Wood on 2nd & 3rd March, with 18 participants. Forum, Historic Environment, Land Management, Wood Fuel and Commons. Woodland archaeology workshop at Oxhey Wood (18 participants for Three Rivers District Council and with He is also on the local committee of the Royal Forestry Hertfordshire Countryside Management Services). Society Oxon / Bucks division. John led guided walks to look at woodland archaeology on Chilterns LEADER Local Action Group (LAG) both Naphill Common in June and in the Forestry Commission's John Morris and Cherry Aston attended meetings. LEADER Queen and Fire Woods at Christmas Common in February. still has some funding available to support the purchase of forestry equipment in the Chilterns AONB. Consultancy Services John was asked by the Forestry Commission to carry out a Wood Fuel East steering group covers the Eastern region, survey and report on the history and features of part of including Herts & Beds, with grants to support woodland Wendover Woods, to provide information for a planning owners and contractors to invest in harvesting and processing application to redevelop the car parking and other facilities in equipment and related infrastructure. the wood. John also attends the Forestry Commission's Applicants Focus Group which discussed the implementation of the English Woodland Grant Scheme and related subjects; and is a member of the Woodland Initiatives steering group. John gave 9 illustrated talks and led 3 guided walks for groups during the year. This included a talk on the Woodland Day Course held at Rewley House, Oxford University in November with 50 participants. He organised the Chilterns Woodland Conference for the Chilterns Conservation Board. It was held at the Clare Foundation, Saunderton on Friday 16th March with 45 participants The Chilterns Commons Project was launched in September 2011 4 Ancient Woodland Inventory County Boundaries Update Original AWI (FC 2003) The Chiltern Woodlands Project helped Revised AWI update the ancient woodland inventory for Chilterns AONB the whole of the Chilterns AONB.