ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Managing woodlands for resilience Emily Fensom, Woodland Resilience Officer at Forestry England, presents a case study illustrating how to adapt woodlands in the face of threats from climate change, pests, and diseases.
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n exciting new series of ten case studies, ‘Managing for Resilience’, has recently been published by the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) in partnership with the Forestry Commission (FC). A short companion report, ‘Resources for Managing Woodland for Resilience’ is also available and contains links to predominantly free online resources and publications. The case studies highlight a proactive willingness to take measures now to adapt woodlands to current and future threats, whilst realising there are risks associated with trying something new. The message is that adaptation measures should not detract from a commercial operation. Several case studies feature timber production and recognise the importance of a resilient woodland for producing that timber in the future. Another
CASE STUDY MORTON HALL RETFORD NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Objective: Introducing Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) to diversify species and stand structure and optimise the potential for timber production Owner and manager: Dr Bill Mason
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orton Hall comprises 78 ha of secondary woodland located in north Nottinghamshire, originating from plantations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The woodland area is divid-
common element is the implementation of Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF), where implementing a more naturalistic approach can cut down on establishment costs, pest and disease problems, encourage natural regeneration, smooth cash flow, improve diversity and ultimately, make your woodland more resilient. The key is to start with an accurate knowledge of your site type(s) and to understand what future climate projections may mean for those site types. This can then help inform your objectives. The case study (overleaf / below) outlined at Morton Hall is a useful example of how this can be achieved. It demonstrates how to start the process of adaptation by using accurate site knowledge to guide species choice and then use targeted thinning to develop mixed species stands with an irregular structure.
ed into three main blocks; plus a few small outlying woodlands which are all of importance aesthetically, and are a resource for wildlife in an arable landscape. The soils are typical of the ‘sandlands’ of this area and range from acidic sandy brown earths to sandy podzols. The management of the woodlands passed to the current owner in the early 1970s, at which point the woods comprised either understocked, mature broadleaved woodlands (pre-1900) which had been affected by war-time fellings or mixed conifer plantations between 15-25 years old, dominated by pine and requiring thinning. Since the 1970s, management objectives have focused on improving the quality of younger planted stands and increasing the stocking of old broadleaved woodlands to maintain and enhance their capital, biodiversity and landscape value. CCF was introduced to the mature broad-
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leaved blocks in the 1980s and is used wherever practicable to diversify species and stand structure and to optimise the potential of the woodlands to produce quality timber. Other management aims include: increasing the biodiversity value of the woodlands and conservation of existing ecological features. The management approach includes taking all practicable measures to increase the resilience of the woodlands against the impacts of future climate change and other threats, including damage from pests and diseases. The focus from the late 1990s onwards was not so much on trialling individual species as trying to be innovative in the way the estate used species on the different site types present in the woodland. Species diversity within the woodlands was already well developed with over 25 species planted and most shown by Eco-
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