Meeting a Swiss forester this week, in the canton of Vaud, I asked if he could show me how local community forests are managed.  To my surprise, he immediately invited me to come and see an woodland area where a team of forestry workers were cutting various hardwoods.  My guide appeared quite informal but he was certainly not taking any risks as he handed me all the safety kit - a fluorescent jacket and a protective helmet attached to a visor and ear defenders. Read more...

At this time of year, the pigments (xanthopylls, anthocyanins and carotenoids) in the leaves of deciduous plants break down giving the colours of the Fall.  These colours are particularly obvious in trees (like the Maples) in New England, on the East Coast of America – and they attract many vistors . However, our trees and woods also offer impressive displays of colour and you can find your nearest wood (for autumnal colour) by visiting the Forestry Commission website.  Read more...

Bees are (usually) frequent visitors to our gardens.  Gardening catalogues and websites are ‘always’ extolling the virtues of particular flowers / plants in terms of attracting insect visitors to our gardens.  These insect visitors are important pollinators – not just for garden flowers, but also for fruit trees and other soft fruits.  But is there any evidence about the ‘best flowers’ to plant for insect visitors – other than “opinion and general  experience”. Now some research on this has been done by the Department of Apiculture at the University of Sussex.   The Department and Professor Ratnieks (which have featured in the woodland blog before) are involved in “The Sussex Plan for Honey Bee Health and Well being”. Read more...

Located near the western fringes of the Forest of Dean, Puzzlewood is probably the closest thing you will find to an enchanted woodland this side of a Disney animation. In fact, there are many links to the world of art and entertainment. JRR Tolkien is said to have been a frequent visitor around the time he was writing 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings'. Many believe that Puzzlewood was the inspiration for the fabled forests of those two novels. More recently the BBC has used Puzzlewood as a location for filming episodes of 'Merlin' and 'Dr Who'. Read more...

Woodlands.co.uk is helping with the supply of some materials (wood, timber) for the restoration of a majestic Thames sailing barge.   The barge is “The Vigilant”, a 109 year old 'Edwardian Lady of the Thames.  It is undergoing a complete restoration at Topsham Quay in Devon. The object of the project, (which will be seeking help from the Heritage Lottery Fund), is to return The Vigilant to sailing condition,  so that it serves as a living reminder of the part these trading vessels played in the building of Britain.  In its cargo carrying days, it could carry 120 tons. Read more...

Recently a friend of mine exclaimed that China gets through 80 billion disposable chopsticks a year.  This is enough to fill Tiananmen Square three times over.  With a population of 1.4 billion, the demand for these utensils is eating away at China’s forests, at a staggering rate.  China's natural forest resources are extremely limited (139th in the world); despite this, 3.8 million trees a year are being cut down - that is, about 100 acres every 24 hours. This deforestation is having knock-on environmental effects, causing landslides, flooding and leading to climate change.  One of the contributors to forest over-exploitation is the demand for disposable chopsticks.  The situation is not looking any more promising as the uptake for Asian cuisine is becoming more common across the globe. Read more...

Our woodlands and hedgerows are filled with some twenty or so common or ‘native’ species (oak, beech, birch, ash, pine, holly etc.).  However, if we look around in our parks, gardens, public places and the grounds of stately homes, we can find many hundreds of introduced or ‘exotic’ tree species, or variants of everyday species. Where have they all come from?  Some of these non-native or exotic species have been with us for a long time.  For example, the sweet chestnut, which various writers have suggested arrived with the Romans.  However, there are more than thirty species of Pine to be found in the U.K. - but only one is native, the Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris). Read more...