John Morris, Director. A registered charity based in the Chilterns AONB office in Chinnor

Transcription

1 John Morris, Director A registered charity based in the Chilterns AONB office in Chinnor

2 Woodland Management advice Free initial advice Help with Management plans Marking trees for felling (licence?) Finding contractors Working with volunteers Priority given to small unmanaged woods, particularly ancient woods

3 Programme for day 1. Introduction management considerations, why manage commons? 2. Grants and licences, designations etc Site visit to Bolter End Common Lunch! 3. History and archaeology, ancient or secondary woodland, veteran trees 4. Tree Health, Risks, Pests and Diseases, Ash dieback

4 Why Manage Wooded Commons? Management considerations An Introduction

5 Managing the landscape

6 Improving the woodland habitat

7 Creating glades and open spaces

8 Letting in the light

9 Open areas can be important for wildlife

10 Selling timber

11 Wood Fuel Firewood - Heating There are various ways to sell firewood Standing Felled at roadside In bags Delivered loads Firewood should be seasoned to dry for at least a year before use

12 Wood Fuel - Firewood - Heating Increasing demand for logs and prices to woodland owners rising Value at roadside is 30 to 40 per tonne

13 Marking thinning in Common Wood

14 Deer exclosure plots

15 Browsed hazel coppice

16 Finding contractors Manual felling

17 Contractor extracting timber

18 Thinning, respacing Opportunity to select better trees

19 Typical heavy forestry equipment Consider stacking areas carefully

20 Timber stacking areas and haulage

21 Using hazard tape to mark old boundary for contractors to avoid

22 Alternative approaches to woodland management Horse logging and saw milling in Angling Spring Wood, larch used to make roadside fence

23 Key factors for tree growth Light Soils Water Protection

24 Plant small trees in winter

25 Aftercare weed control Spot weed with suitable herbicide Use a mulch Cut back vegetation Clean elder, thorn scrub etc Accept natural regeneration

26 Replanting using tree guards

27 Natural regeneration in gaps

28 Moorend Common felling

29 Moorend Common path clearance work April 2007

30 Moorend Common regrowth August 2008

31 Moorend Common - regrowth

32 Moorend Common SSSI grassland

33 Rich in wild flowers

34 Rare orchids

35 Hawridge & Cholesbury Common

36 Heather at Bradenham

37 butterflies

38 Himalayan Balsam invasive plant

39 Invasive plants - snowberry

40 Invasive plants Japanese knotweed

41 Grants and Regulations

42 Long term management plans Seen as a key method of approving woodland work, with felling licences issued for up to 10 years. Grants may follow on from plan

43 UK Forestry Standard Produced in 2011 the standard to measure woodland management to. FC Grants To reward good management

44 Grants & Felling Licences

45 After thinning out the larch

46 Site Designations SSSI / SAC (Natural England) Wildlife Site (Environmental Records) Tree Preservation Order (District Council) Conservation Area (District Council) Archaeology (Historic Environment Record) Rights of Way (County Council)

47 To get grants Register with Rural Payments Agency need Single Business Identifier (SBI) and land mapped on Rural Land Registry This takes time!

48 Grants changing Forestry Commission and Natural England HLS will get closer New scheme will need EU approval linked to next 6 year budget round Start / details 2014? Management plan likely to be needed for most grants

49 FC - Woodland Grants To prepare management plan For Assessments For Woodland Improvement Management currently 30/ha/annum towards costs of agreed programme of work Restocking / Regeneration Woodland Creation

50 Management Plan Aims Objectives Management Strategy Description of compartments Management history Hazards, constraints & threats Operations Work programme

51 Management Plan Identify what you have got Trees, ages and other species information Divide into compartments and subcompartments Map various features, Rights of Way, wayleaves etc Map what you want to do

52 Management plan template, suitable for FC plans Mapping tool Compartment information Directory forest/

53 Bats - protected

54 Common Dormouse - protected

55 Glade management

56 Questions & Discussion

57 Bolter End Common visit Agreed a long term plan with the Forestry Commission, also includes work on Cadmore End Common EWGS contract with grants and ten year felling licences approved a year ago Took 9 months to find contractors and agree work programme and price Roadside tree surgery this autumn

58 Road traffic control Bolter End

59 Roadside tree works

60 Chipping lop and top

61 Stacking area hidden from road

62 Stacked firewood for sale

63 Notices / information

64 Area to thin next spring

65 Widen bridleway

66 Veteran trees after work

67 Holly and veteran tree management

68 Site risk assessment Busy road take care when crossing Uneven ground, wet and muddy in places Beware of trip hazards Tree stumps, stones, rabbit holes, stumps, roots brambles, old fences Rubbish and dog mess! Hazards to eyes from twigs / branches know who is around you! Some thin brittle dead trees - so don t lean on them