tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70055990087342647702024-02-07T12:02:39.519+00:00Alvecote Woodwww.alvecotewood.co.uk A 20 acre wildlife site near Tamworth in Staffordshire comprising 11 acres ancient oak woodland and 9 acres newly-planted woodland. This blog follows our thoughts, feelings and observations as we manage this site for wildlife and community groups.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-39292357348449655042013-05-23T15:02:00.001+01:002013-05-23T15:02:25.718+01:00Blog has now moved..<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Due to ongoing difficulties, this blog has now been moved to WordPress and can be viewed on <a href="http://alvecotewood.wordpress.com/">http://alvecotewood.wordpress.com/</a>. All the posts from this blog have been imported into WordPress, so you can still read and comment on old posts, but all future posts will now be on WordPress. Thank you, and please follow the new blog.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-62899821191049509162013-05-17T17:34:00.000+01:002013-05-17T17:34:07.981+01:00Bluebells<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B5pLbqlGyp0lfmqu8xII_q3tlCVGpWX7IziAOaJ4_Nk20-W-awLzvbTRfYA9Vib2F1pXHE3lAy5jxDoz9oLShcNRKxVdce_lZbx2-N8Qml8Q8RsyT-WwSse64FmSMiiXi1r389vVLZ0/s1600/bluebellsetc-104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B5pLbqlGyp0lfmqu8xII_q3tlCVGpWX7IziAOaJ4_Nk20-W-awLzvbTRfYA9Vib2F1pXHE3lAy5jxDoz9oLShcNRKxVdce_lZbx2-N8Qml8Q8RsyT-WwSse64FmSMiiXi1r389vVLZ0/s320/bluebellsetc-104.jpg" width="320" /></a>Better late than never, the bluebells have finally reached their peak at Alvecote Wood. Every spring, for a fleeting moment, there is a little catch in the throat and flutter in the chest as these beautiful little flowers are glimpsed among the trees. Elegantly curved, softly perfumed, they carpet the floor, providing a beautiful counterpoint to the emerging leaves with their fresh lime-green colour. To me, they are the quintessence of spring.<br />
Bluebells are part of the very-important ground layer in a woodland. There are the canopy trees, then the shrub layer, then the ground flora. Emerging early, to capture the light before the canopy trees block it out, they are a vital part of the woodland ecosystem, providing pollen for early pollinators including bees and butterflies.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7xRIo9Zo0y3Ak_INnD0jE1_Lbkth8891RyEXYhGa42SGJoMwwWAD3O3hXRcJ2yNSyKHlAEHG9E0jiSespv_8rbPptJRAl5KF_CubFtufQAjcrwqNWaWDL0mqwNHzR_hKXBkwCqToSk0/s1600/bluebellsetc-109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7xRIo9Zo0y3Ak_INnD0jE1_Lbkth8891RyEXYhGa42SGJoMwwWAD3O3hXRcJ2yNSyKHlAEHG9E0jiSespv_8rbPptJRAl5KF_CubFtufQAjcrwqNWaWDL0mqwNHzR_hKXBkwCqToSk0/s320/bluebellsetc-109.jpg" width="320" /></a>Bluebells are one of the reasons we need to manage our woodlands. Clearing excessive bramble and thinning the canopy when it gets too dense have many beneficial effects, the most important being to let in light and warmth to the woodland floor. Bluebells respond well to this, but so do lots of other things - we have lesser celandine, bugle, greater stitchwort, primrose, violets and wood sage at this time of year, and later come the foxgloves and various types of willow-herb, as well as the wild raspberries. If we are letting in enough light for the bluebells to thrive, then other things thrive too.<br />
<br />
In this short sward we also see natural regeneration - little seedlings of oak, ash, hawthorn and silver birch start to come through. This is the future of the woodland.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOCCJ-3yhIFQJpOYrcBxAPOnAaG-vFKWvLJLlqIX7OlXrzryguBdBGsSFn7Sp-NxIgG8IYbw7hk4dDjPzVsbAy2bgr6uaRybXFix7rVYJbunPddnsLymC8f1DO3Yy5WwTxkGfOoQHvMdM/s1600/bluebellsetc-107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOCCJ-3yhIFQJpOYrcBxAPOnAaG-vFKWvLJLlqIX7OlXrzryguBdBGsSFn7Sp-NxIgG8IYbw7hk4dDjPzVsbAy2bgr6uaRybXFix7rVYJbunPddnsLymC8f1DO3Yy5WwTxkGfOoQHvMdM/s320/bluebellsetc-107.jpg" width="320" /></a>We figure that if we are managing the woodland well, then the bluebells are an indicator that we are doing our job. Britain is surprisingly important for bluebells, having about half of all the bluebells in the world. They may be common for us, but they are rare elsewhere, and we need to look after them.<br />
As far as we can tell, all the bluebells in Alvecote Wood are the native English bluebell <i>Hyacinthoides non-scripta</i>. Unfortunately, these bluebells are becoming progressively more rare, coming under pressure from the Spanish bluebell <i>Hyacinthoides hispanica</i>. The problem is not only that this escape from gardens and colonises natural habitats, but also that it hybridises with the native bluebell, forming a hybrid <i>Hyacinthoides x massartiana</i>. Hybrids are usually very vigorous, and this is no exception, resulting in more rapid growth and greater spread than both of the parent species.<br />
<br />
How can we tell them apart? Well, the native bluebell has a number of key characteristics:<br />
<ul>
<li>Top is gently curved rather than straight upstanding - the Spanish and hybrids tend to be straight</li>
<li>The flower is long and slim with recurved petals at the end - the Spanish and hybrids are wider and the petals do not curve back to the same extent</li>
<li>The pollen on the stamens is white or cream coloured - Spanish and hybrids have blue or greeny-blue pollen</li>
<li>British bluebells are usually blue - they can rarely be white or pink, but if there are a lot of varied colours in a carpet of bluebells, this suggests hybridisation.</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy_vbL_DZo9FbdIenk1_QEe548H6BRWooJ0-tOlq2tvMGjfr4Zm13ShOdVQ24gLyg3Je7Y0NqXx3Ued168ZDw1JZTBV8-WpsPKE5dG-SRb7eTlH3LqKaCaJFLve-3xdpI-mhX-ZTiFiY4/s1600/bluebellsetc-108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy_vbL_DZo9FbdIenk1_QEe548H6BRWooJ0-tOlq2tvMGjfr4Zm13ShOdVQ24gLyg3Je7Y0NqXx3Ued168ZDw1JZTBV8-WpsPKE5dG-SRb7eTlH3LqKaCaJFLve-3xdpI-mhX-ZTiFiY4/s320/bluebellsetc-108.jpg" width="320" /></a>You can help track the spread of Spanish and hybrid bluebells in Britain through the <a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/british-natural-history/survey-bluebells/" target="_blank">Natural History Museum</a> survey scheme. Their web site is very helpful and gives lots of information about how to identify the bluebell types. <br />
Another passion of mine is trying to capture the bluebells in photographs. It is easy to take photos of bluebells, but harder to capture the "essence of bluebell", by which I mean that emotional response you get when looking at a carpet of these beautiful little flowers. My general approach to this is:<br />
<ul>
<li>Get down low - get in among the bluebells and try and capture the feeling of being a creature living in the bluebell carpet</li>
<li>Focus on one or a few bluebells - don't go for wide depth of field, go narrow, and let the rest of the bluebells merge into a blur of blueness</li>
<li>Try and get other colours into the picture, particularly that lovely lime green of spring</li>
<li>Make the most of the dappled light on the woodland floor</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iQB1nruglUhHL4OF_NVd8SKSlkmeyOFDWyb-j2a8EvSmvvgR61-UaUh4VUXD39T2EsTphvvvpXenWU6WRmiJXLPFXb-MqEIW51eihnzflRmalngNsYL6Cds4_ZjhCV2qTI4Fjo_MUzk/s1600/bluebellsetc-113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iQB1nruglUhHL4OF_NVd8SKSlkmeyOFDWyb-j2a8EvSmvvgR61-UaUh4VUXD39T2EsTphvvvpXenWU6WRmiJXLPFXb-MqEIW51eihnzflRmalngNsYL6Cds4_ZjhCV2qTI4Fjo_MUzk/s320/bluebellsetc-113.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This is easier said than done when the floor is covered also in nettles and brambles, and you are allergic to Hyacinths (bluebells are just wild hyacinths, really, and give me horrendous hay fever). But the rewards are there. If you can capture the essence of bluebell on your camera, you have the most wonderful reminder of spring the year through, and particularly during those bleak winter months. Bluebells are special plants for so many reasons. Get out there and enjoy them while they are at their best. They are a gift from spring to us, and one we simply can't miss!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-13397898177263120052013-05-14T16:15:00.000+01:002013-05-14T16:15:10.696+01:00Chainsaw Training <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7pspibrVXSvZtL1fOGIIexj4Y6sCF5NzD8npakVHDIMQq88fiZLIY-UiHRQGgPl2KLybkkvkjh_NQaSMO0HhIrmku8GFvsvK09L1mP0BIbILgKBiNvPbbzzzsQuGytCvKGHIG0HrYDw/s1600/chainsawing-in-forest-122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7pspibrVXSvZtL1fOGIIexj4Y6sCF5NzD8npakVHDIMQq88fiZLIY-UiHRQGgPl2KLybkkvkjh_NQaSMO0HhIrmku8GFvsvK09L1mP0BIbILgKBiNvPbbzzzsQuGytCvKGHIG0HrYDw/s320/chainsawing-in-forest-122.jpg" width="218" /></a>When we first got chainsaws a few years ago to help with woodland management and coppicing, we had some
informal training from one of our tree surgeons, who is also an instructor at
the local Agricultural college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we
have had that updated ever since, when they visit the woods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have always been less comfortable with the
chainsaw than Stephen, and so limited myself to snedding (removing limbs from felled trees) and cross-cutting, and
had very little experience in tree-felling or maintenance – indeed, I don’t
even know where Stephen has hidden the tools for my saw!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We now have the opportunity to help out on
other sites, including Wildlife Trust and another privately-owned local
woodland, so needed to get some formal training and a proper certificate.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Phil Dunford is based in North Wales, near Corwen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phil has twice won the British Chainsaw
Championship and seven times the Welsh Treefelling Championship – so he is
good! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We opted for different courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chainsaw courses have recently been
overhauled, and the old CS30/31 course is now a Lantra QCF course (<b>COURSE
CODE 2564) </b>covering maintenance, cross-cutting and felling trees up to
380mm, and comes with a licence to practic<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwbFL1McJL43EUlY1az78U9KD9-lzx9QRe4fzIPMjmlkA2zWh-nuI4ebZpqQVwxkMV0OH83c-HtY-IHV-zgZAg8Uuea5HQR2AhXEMM8sj7F__xduzIcdT8YmNcFep9XXk47DiwlifoSgY/s1600/workshop-103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwbFL1McJL43EUlY1az78U9KD9-lzx9QRe4fzIPMjmlkA2zWh-nuI4ebZpqQVwxkMV0OH83c-HtY-IHV-zgZAg8Uuea5HQR2AhXEMM8sj7F__xduzIcdT8YmNcFep9XXk47DiwlifoSgY/s320/workshop-103.jpg" width="320" /></a>e professionally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this is quite a demanding course,
with an assessment on a sixth day, for which you pay separately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a new course for “occasional users”
which would suit most small woodland owners as few of us work full time in
forestry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is called the Lantra ITA
course (<b>CLMC41X) </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">which covers
maintenance and cross-cutting and felling up to 20cm diameter – absolutely
ideal for coppicing, firewood cutting and small woodland management tasks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This course is four days long – basically it
is the first four days of the QCF course, with a certificate of training issued
at the end of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I opted for the
latter, with an option to move onto the QCF course if I was doing well, while
Stephen wanted to do the QCF course from the start, as it is a gateway into
higher qualifications including climbing, which he also wants to do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The first day was
spent in the workshop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stephen used to
do all the maintenance for both of us, so it was fun for me to do something
more than just fuel the saw, check the tension and hand it over to Stephen to
fix if something was wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We covered
both the cutting elements and drive elements of the chainsaw, and I enjoyed
sharpening, checking, filing, removing the clutch, replacing the starter cord
and everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All useful stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phil is a great tutor, and has lots of
brilliant examples of badly-maintained saws, chains, bars, sprockets and starter
cords to demonstrate what can go wrong if you don’t do maintenance properly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCkjte6lvvkXQ8NNN2ptHZ7Q_YST0kUaQm0e4-i4XU67RZYghThTnfJJbna9Tsoy3pSNv_UBVE5pwQ1ZyrFZ2v5OteXCoq_p2rXAidT3j3m7ERBUIcQ9CZlr2tdF4tWPyVEXkuCiUGrUw/s1600/landscapes-scenery-112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCkjte6lvvkXQ8NNN2ptHZ7Q_YST0kUaQm0e4-i4XU67RZYghThTnfJJbna9Tsoy3pSNv_UBVE5pwQ1ZyrFZ2v5OteXCoq_p2rXAidT3j3m7ERBUIcQ9CZlr2tdF4tWPyVEXkuCiUGrUw/s320/landscapes-scenery-112.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The course moved up
a gear considerably after the first day, when we headed out into the
forest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a real shock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had not expected to be felling sitka spruce
on a Forestry Commission plantation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now, some of these trees may have a small diameter, but they are massive
– up to 60 foot tall – and so very heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you think you will be felling little bits of coppice, this is a bit
of an eye-opener.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The terrain is also
very difficult – many generations of mossy, wet stumps, brash and wet logs to
climb over to get to your felling area and to sned up and cross-cut these large
conifers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus you have to cut the
timber into proper lengths as this is commercial forestry, and the produce
needs to be marketable when you have finished with it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The first part of
the first day in the woods was spent cross-cutting and learning basic felling
cuts on logs he had set up for this purpose – a great way to practice without
all the hassle of getting your aim wrong and hanging-up a large tree!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had not expected to be learning plunge or
bore cuts with both pulling and pushing chain on the first day in the woods –
scary stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty soon it was apparent
my saw was not up to it, so Phil quickly produced another saw for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phil is a great tutor, and even tasks of
which I was scared became doable with his gentle encouragement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Another eye-opener
was the range of felling cuts available to you for both small and large trees –
we knew some, but this course introduced more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Any illusions I had about being able to complete the QCF course were
quickly brushed aside when it became obvious that I was simply not big enough
to lever over a hung-up tree (something you have to do for assessment), nor to
shift and stack 8ft logs on my own (also for the assessment).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Phil was kind enough to let me do all the
training for the QCF course including felling larger trees – I just couldn’t do
the assessment on that site and with those tall trees.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUBk7GcmSM0zrVuTRey2BfgKZmMCoN_EUmKtrJskQu5Rf6lKa-INRSc2LPShorQHRe9tXiPzHGaTJgAR5vpPXggIzj8RPQeTrEtdDvfIZ-5tMiLbMrIEdb4GBv2Fs7Ej9CQ22TF0ViyU/s1600/chainsawing-in-forest-104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUBk7GcmSM0zrVuTRey2BfgKZmMCoN_EUmKtrJskQu5Rf6lKa-INRSc2LPShorQHRe9tXiPzHGaTJgAR5vpPXggIzj8RPQeTrEtdDvfIZ-5tMiLbMrIEdb4GBv2Fs7Ej9CQ22TF0ViyU/s320/chainsawing-in-forest-104.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Phil took us through
all the felling cuts on log blocks before we headed off to try them out for
real, and also had a great training set-up to teach snedding techniques for
conifers (although nothing to teach this on broadleaves, which differ a
lot).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, all the exercises
served to increase confidence and precision with the saw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn’t just work in the sitka plantation,
but also went up to a larch plantation on a different site to experience
felling on a steep slope with trees leaning forwards and backwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phil explained that all the training was on
conifers because when he has run courses with broadleaves they spend all day
winching down hung-up trees and not much time actually learning felling and
snedding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">By the end of the
four-day course I was exhausted, so Phil set up a load of blocks for me to
practice felling without having to do all the snedding, cross-cutting and
log-stacking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also set up a stand so
I could have a go at chainsaw carving – and taught me how to do a stool, chair
and mushroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first attempts were not
too bad, and this is definitely something I will do more of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phil demonstrated to us how he carves owls –
now that is truly amazing, and something I’d like to have a go at now I’m back
home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NwLCTEXktAPk-bDU1x2t5EreDcDns41nbH2AS5YElhNKANHKHbZkVB6IzJXUgPJVG1wa3z0lslnjlNuwUrgbSH3xujciIkHkS5vBPGuqZEnLFSZmeHEYeQAFrFtNBH8jRRJqZcH4dRY/s1600/chainsawing-in-forest-113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NwLCTEXktAPk-bDU1x2t5EreDcDns41nbH2AS5YElhNKANHKHbZkVB6IzJXUgPJVG1wa3z0lslnjlNuwUrgbSH3xujciIkHkS5vBPGuqZEnLFSZmeHEYeQAFrFtNBH8jRRJqZcH4dRY/s320/chainsawing-in-forest-113.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Phil was extremely
good and inclusive, allowing me to attend Stephen’s assessment and take
photos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The assessment was
straightforward provided you had listened, learned, practised and did things
according to the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We departed,
exhausted and happy, with our respective chainsaw qualifications, a new respect
for forestry workers and our chainsaws, with greatly expanded knowledge and
experience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Phil really is a
gifted tutor – he explains things well, talks you through things, can deal with
you being anything from too scared to too confident, and has a gift for making
the day enjoyable, whatever the weather and whatever the task. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It really is
important to get some training before setting yourself loose with a
chainsaw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A formal course won’t suit everybody,
but you do need to remember that if you don’t have a formal certificate, you
can’t pop over to your mates’ house or woodland to help out with a
chainsaw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We found both formal and informal
training to be valuable, and learning from a real expert and chainsaw champion
is a great way to find out just how much you don’t know.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7g9IBRDxUz8/UZJSgFn7CPI/AAAAAAAAA6w/3HLsJGdQipQ/s1600/chainsawing-in-forest-116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7g9IBRDxUz8/UZJSgFn7CPI/AAAAAAAAA6w/3HLsJGdQipQ/s320/chainsawing-in-forest-116.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I would say that the
physical demands of this course are very high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As well as being tiny (5ft 2 and 7 ½ stone), I have a chronic lung
problem, and this made the course very difficult for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another student was struggling as he was not
very fit, albeit much larger than me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
need to be either big and strong, or very fit, or preferably both, to cope with
the QCF course – a benchmark is that you need to be able to work at about 80%
maximum aerobic capacity for several hours at a time, and also to dead-lift
about 50kg repeatedly during the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The QCF course is great, but the ITA course is enough for most small
woodland owners unless you want to fell large trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For coppicing, the ITA course is perfect, but
some public bodies, including the Forestry Commission and some Councils will
not accept it, and require the QCF certificate instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for most purposes, the ITA certificate is
fine.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Whatever you choose,
Phil Dunford is a really good tutor – a week in Wales in his company is
pleasant and informative, and his experience and skills are legendary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could not pick a better place to go, nor
a better person to learn from.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Phil's web site is on <a href="http://www.chainsawtraining.com/">www.chainsawtraining.com</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; height: 284px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; width: 384px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OrYxEFXqZTA/UZJRi4i4FzI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/tgRiUCkl_ag/s1600/182767_588698497815961_1602380534_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OrYxEFXqZTA/UZJRi4i4FzI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/tgRiUCkl_ag/s320/182767_588698497815961_1602380534_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td><td valign="top"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah second from left, Stephen in the centre. Photo by Phil Dunford</td><td valign="top"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There are a load more pictures on<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alvecotewood/sets/72157633463285047/" target="_blank"> http://www.flickr.com/photos/alvecotewood/sets/72157633463285047/</a> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-57807045293149378822013-04-22T18:30:00.000+01:002013-04-22T18:30:55.139+01:00Bird Photography using a Chair Hide<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gQQgghH9z_0Ww-_5_mT0uD_WDJlNRDNq7E5K0_8rXqP7e0rvK-JC_wkG7N6Md5thkpl6iGUbEENgEaKXsLgr86NXTs0wiQGo8sMw6TQXPJijJHYzDQzqC5xc-_B6aaoiDqdqTjYBhE8/s1600/chair-hide-104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gQQgghH9z_0Ww-_5_mT0uD_WDJlNRDNq7E5K0_8rXqP7e0rvK-JC_wkG7N6Md5thkpl6iGUbEENgEaKXsLgr86NXTs0wiQGo8sMw6TQXPJijJHYzDQzqC5xc-_B6aaoiDqdqTjYBhE8/s320/chair-hide-104.jpg" width="320" /></a>If, like me, you are keen on wildlife photography, or if you
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hide can be really useful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question
is which one to get, and are they any good?</div>
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I love photography, and in particular taking pictures of the
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</span>Even with good long lenses, it is difficult to get close enough to the
subjects without having to crop the images, thus losing definition and detail,
even with the best of cameras and lenses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With a good, fast 300mm lens from Canon or Nikon costing upwards of £5k,
and longer lenses costing considerably more, the realistic solution for most of
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There are a wide variety of hides available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could build a semi-permanent hide using
camo tarps and a wooden frame, or even from straw bales, and we considered
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is, at least in our
woods, that the feeders are close to the building (for obvious reasons) and any
semi-permanent structure is an invitation to people to come and do harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also isn’t portable – but a lot of the
birds don’t come to the feeders and we have to go to the birds, rather than
having the birds come to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many birds
are territorial, so you have to be able to move around the different
territories in the woods, particularly if one breeding pair has decided to nest
in a location that is hard to photograph.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpianz_7rTz2LbBO9vMR9sUpGQfmUJhM_WF51Wn_7Dm2BN5qc2OQvmrKD-jlapWI6WmCuNIKer8Y8HtEWe8VBriCZ99tqz_P0-G-eE9GWin8e1eHs37L0BzBvc43OBwo33ZE5cjeq8wM/s1600/birdsandfritillaries-203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpianz_7rTz2LbBO9vMR9sUpGQfmUJhM_WF51Wn_7Dm2BN5qc2OQvmrKD-jlapWI6WmCuNIKer8Y8HtEWe8VBriCZ99tqz_P0-G-eE9GWin8e1eHs37L0BzBvc43OBwo33ZE5cjeq8wM/s320/birdsandfritillaries-203.jpg" width="320" /></a>There are a range of portable pop-up hides available,
similar to lightweight pop-up tents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although they are portable, unless your knees are made of steel, you
will also need a chair to sit on to make use of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Added to the not-inconsiderable weight of
photography gear (camera, lenses, tripod), this can make quite a burden.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I ended up looking at the pop-up hides based around a
chair or chairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stealth Gear supply
one-man and two-man hides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The advantage
of the latter is that you can either have somebody in there with you, or you
have some extra space for your clobber.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it is bigger and heavier and more complicated too, and since I am
usually the only person who is daft enough to sit out in all weathers trying to
get that one wonderful shot, I opted for the one-man hide, costing around £85
online.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uIWl6fFWDLs/UXVyYGi6YSI/AAAAAAAAA5M/eENj-OsXaTM/s1600/birdsandfritillaries-204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uIWl6fFWDLs/UXVyYGi6YSI/AAAAAAAAA5M/eENj-OsXaTM/s320/birdsandfritillaries-204.jpg" width="272" /></a>The hide is based on a standard folding canvas chair, with
canvas arms and the usual drink holder in one of the arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this has been attached a clever folding
canopy, which can be unfolded a bit like a slinky toy to give a chair with a
camouflage covering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the covering are
various windows of varying sizes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each
window is covered with camo netting, so you can observe without being
seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The window can also be unzipped to
allow you to poke out a lens, binoculars (or even an air rifle if you are after
rabbits or squirrels). The front also unzips to give a much larger field of
view, but with the disadvantage that you are much more visible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The canopy can be pinned down with tent pegs
to minimise flapping, reduce drafts (very important in winter!) and stop it
blowing away. The lower front opens to allow you to crawl in, but I have found
it easier to flip the front up, sit down, then pull the front back down again
and secure the pegs from the inside. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It isn’t completely waterproof – there are little gaps here
and there where the zips have been stitched in – but it is a million times
better than standing out in the open, or trying to stand under a camo net or
tarp that you have erected yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is pretty windproof unless you open the windows, although there is a bit of a
draft underneath, which can make it pretty cold around the feet and your bottom
after a while.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnVgkm3cR5mpxLcSMoYJhFd9Uz7ZOTtNTUhgyR3Gm2VSN4JaTHkrUSP1jhHc2QmIoDAdu0hGWZLG4nBsFuX2_Osg1LxOfsn3AYWft5Ln8K25ZhsrhW0nPeCyJ15kuEAZKakQ4ngDUY52Q/s1600/birdsandfritillaries-205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnVgkm3cR5mpxLcSMoYJhFd9Uz7ZOTtNTUhgyR3Gm2VSN4JaTHkrUSP1jhHc2QmIoDAdu0hGWZLG4nBsFuX2_Osg1LxOfsn3AYWft5Ln8K25ZhsrhW0nPeCyJ15kuEAZKakQ4ngDUY52Q/s320/birdsandfritillaries-205.jpg" width="320" /></a>The chair is quite small – you wouldn’t want to be a very
well-built person – but large enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
am only 5ft 2ins, but it seems to have enough room for my husband who is larger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However you can’t store stuff underneath it,
so you need the room at the front of the hide to put your camera bag down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem with that is when you use a
conventional tripod, there isn’t a lot of room for the tripod, your feet, your
camera bag and a nice flask and box of sandwiches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have switched to using a smaller tripod
that has a large central column and takes less floor area (made by 3-Legged
Thing), and this is great – I have room for my feet, a camera bag and my lunch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So are the birds fooled by it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazingly, yes, provided you have sited it
such that the camouflage works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Set it
against the light, and it will be a looming object that the birds don’t
like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Set it into an existing bush, or
so that the light shines onto it from the perspective of the bird, and it
blends in surprisingly well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, I
have had a robin sitting on top, singing away (quite deafening), and lots of
blue tits and great tits perching on top of the hide too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is worth putting the hide up a little
while before you go into it, so the birds can get used to it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MFLkdWzmWPU/UXVyZ4ZklsI/AAAAAAAAA5c/A8LnRODPJPs/s1600/birdsandfritillaries-225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MFLkdWzmWPU/UXVyZ4ZklsI/AAAAAAAAA5c/A8LnRODPJPs/s320/birdsandfritillaries-225.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You DO have to keep quite still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means largely keeping your hands on the
camera for the birds can see your hands move rapidly up to the camera if
something interesting comes along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
have to move slowly, and not swing the camera too quickly either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Opening the side windows also lets light in,
and lets the birds see you, so it isn’t a bad idea to wear camo gear inside the
hide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keeping still inevitably means you
get cold, and in the winter I took to wearing ski gear to keep warm (as well as
a flask of coffee).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also found that a
gimbal or ball-and-socket head on the tripod was much easier to control than a
standard pan and tilt head as you made less in the way of movements of your
hands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And when you want to move, it folds up and clips together
such that it fits into a bag that you can carry like a rucksack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXJKGbyauFLp8ee5SuyyvebEQdDNzSvLgm4TunrLE51uaTeuYlvhsBIDIr6VNEYAKre1cPRBG5_ENAkikJpdZuDss36xsIl4yzgS5BNm1xYfeyqvLI-9TKloP4WxhxrmWvhK4NKYLaCk/s1600/birdsandfritillaries-231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXJKGbyauFLp8ee5SuyyvebEQdDNzSvLgm4TunrLE51uaTeuYlvhsBIDIr6VNEYAKre1cPRBG5_ENAkikJpdZuDss36xsIl4yzgS5BNm1xYfeyqvLI-9TKloP4WxhxrmWvhK4NKYLaCk/s320/birdsandfritillaries-231.jpg" width="320" /></a>And it works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a
relatively cheap way of getting closer to your subject, massively cheaper than
buying a long prime lens, and massively more convenient than making your
own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are somewhat limited in the
viewpoint you take (all your pictures are from sitting height).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You definitely get much closer than you can
just sitting there with your telephoto lens on the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, I have been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">too</i> close on occasion, a few birds coming within the minimum focal
distance of my lens (1.8 metres).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
may or may not be robust – I have yet to use it for a whole year, so can’t
comment on that – but I think it has already proved its value.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some tips for taking good photographs from the hide</div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Site the hide about an hour before you
get in it to let the birds get used to it.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Site the hide where it
blends in, and doesn’t give a looming presence from the perspective of the
birds.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Try and site the hide
where there is a good background (not too confused), and where the
lighting is good (I find side or sometimes back lighting is good for
getting definition on the bird’s feathers, rather than flat straight-on
sunlight)</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Go for places where there are
birds (do your homework).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either
where you know birds are hanging out or alternatively put up feeders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you do the latter, you will find it
almost embarrassingly easy to take pictures of birds on feeders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Try and observe where the birds are
approaching from and what intermediate perches they are using.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then you can get pictures of them on the
way to or from the feeder, in a more natural setting.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Use a good tripod with a
ball or gimbal head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A gimbal head
allows you to move the camera naturally as if you were holding it by hand,
but provides all the support you need, at least up to 400mm.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Unless your camera has
very good autofocus, go for manual focus and pre-focus on the favoured
perches.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Use exposure compensation –
your birds will often be backlit, or appear against a bright sky, and you
will need to over-expose by usually 1 to 1 1/3 stops to avoid the birds
appearing as dark little bird-shaped silhouettes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Learn how to use this feature on your
camera without looking at the controls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You won’t always be able to check the exposure on the screen, so
use a best guess or bracket the exposures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Try and get the birds
doing something interesting:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>fighting, flying in or out, in a natural pose (such as the
head-down pose of the nuthatch), about to take off, with a seed in their
beak , or even with a dynamic pose or interesting expression.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Enjoy the common birds as
well as the rare ones and take lots of photos of them – that way you will
get use to photography in the hide, and won’t mess up when the rare bird
makes a fleeting appearance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must
have taken thousands of photos of blue tits, but I love these little
birds, and could watch them all day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It means when a reed bunting, or yellowhammer, or willow tit flies
in I’m on the ball and used to taking photos, and can get a decent result,
rather than an over-excited, under-exposed blur.</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The photos in this article were all taken in a single
afternoon using a Canon EOS5D Mk III with 100-400 zoom lens, and a Three Legged Thing tripod with ball head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before buying the hide, it
would take weeks to get just one shot as good as some of these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My verdict – if you like your photography it
is worth the money.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stealth-Gear-Chair-Hide-Foldable/dp/B0077B4L0K/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1366650176&sr=8-15&keywords=stealth+gear" target="_blank">Stealth Gear One-Man Folding Chair Hide</a> </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-9950987510789162812013-03-18T17:21:00.000+00:002013-03-18T17:21:33.447+00:00Horse Logging at Alvecote Wood<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--PIEvrOSmSk/UUdLWVvtIzI/AAAAAAAAA4M/u9duMpoBsQY/s1600/horselogging-lr-109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--PIEvrOSmSk/UUdLWVvtIzI/AAAAAAAAA4M/u9duMpoBsQY/s320/horselogging-lr-109.jpg" width="213" /></a>We had felled our larch trees with the tree surgeons, but then what? The problem is that we wanted to leave the logs in longer lengths (about 8ft), so they could be planked. A few could be shifted by hand if we had enough strong volunteers to help (and we usually don't) but the majority of logs were too big and heavy to move by hand, volunteers or no. <br />
<br />
In a normal year we would either drive the trailer in, or use the tractor to get the logs out. But this hasn't been a normal year. The ground is very wet and gets chewed up very easily. We definitely didn't want to chew up the ground, particularly in the felling area, as this is the best patch of bluebells in the whole wood. Not to mention damaging the ground and affecting adjacent tree roots. We needed to get the logs out so a mobile sawmill can get to them and plank them.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwmISF-JrPdVMGgu6xcQEvYCqtHbVCe14sboIay71KvXjphMGDc7HuTyl_Lj1MaCiCXJTW3fG-Me5Pxy021vz0wQSMyZ1cwv__iCDnDQNheEXEbE6888UBEjOZxOXTAmIkSKifS_hz-0k/s1600/horselogging-lr-114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwmISF-JrPdVMGgu6xcQEvYCqtHbVCe14sboIay71KvXjphMGDc7HuTyl_Lj1MaCiCXJTW3fG-Me5Pxy021vz0wQSMyZ1cwv__iCDnDQNheEXEbE6888UBEjOZxOXTAmIkSKifS_hz-0k/s320/horselogging-lr-114.jpg" width="225" /></a>We had seen horse-logging at various Forestry shows, and also on the TV, and we decided that this was the way to go. Working horses are far from obsolete. Their feet are kind to the ground. They tread a narrow path, dragging the log behind them on a narrow track. They can get into places that you can't take a tractor and have a much lower impact on the ground. And they are very, very strong! The 8ft sections were something that a single working horse should be able to shift with ease, even though we struggled to roll them, let alone pick them up, even using log levers.<br />
<br />
So it was that we contacted <a href="http://www.fcauk.com/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=16&sobi2Id=317&Itemid=170" target="_blank">James Griffiths Horse Logging</a> and asked if he would bring his beautiful pair of working grey Shire horses to the woods. It was with great excitement that we arrived at the woods on Friday 15th March to see them in action.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdG648Y1Y7FaughQqHLgraGGX8axdhbSCz-et6gE1Lc3b5-JZ-5MtJ6xWzVOPSfqRoAUuyXQdaLN2DsjKfy-4tDuqmAN3r_cGNCC52uRt7bBgZiRrD5NCrtVVAB8am_VlvGS-BaRr0StQ/s1600/horselogging-lr-128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdG648Y1Y7FaughQqHLgraGGX8axdhbSCz-et6gE1Lc3b5-JZ-5MtJ6xWzVOPSfqRoAUuyXQdaLN2DsjKfy-4tDuqmAN3r_cGNCC52uRt7bBgZiRrD5NCrtVVAB8am_VlvGS-BaRr0StQ/s320/horselogging-lr-128.jpg" width="213" /></a>And what an immense privilege it was to see Dillon and Prince. The work was easy enough for one horse, so it was lovely Dillon, a 17.2 hands grey Shire, who did the work, and Prince came along to stay with his friend and watch him work - and to help out if needed.<br />
<br />
These horses are so capable, so strong, and yet so very light on their feet. They made the huge logs that we struggled with look easy. And the damage to the ground was absolutely minimal - you would hardly know the horses had been there, except for a few leaves swept up here and there. <br />
<br />
They worked fast - the whole job was done in about 3 hours - and that is faster than the tractor would have done it with lifting slings. In all about 30 large logs and a few smaller ones were moved, including some crab apple that was felled two years ago. They looked so right in the woodland setting. And they are versatile horses too - James rides them (see video <a href="http://mhha.org.uk/archives/339" target="_blank">Here - Midland Heavy Horse Show 2012 - at about 2.30 mins</a> ) and also uses them to drive a drey. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t0CKyTo16Xo/UUdLeIrVupI/AAAAAAAAA4s/vkNfT3ciMVA/s1600/horselogging-lr-140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t0CKyTo16Xo/UUdLeIrVupI/AAAAAAAAA4s/vkNfT3ciMVA/s320/horselogging-lr-140.jpg" width="306" /></a>I took loads of photos which are on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alvecotewood/sets/72157633003882320/" target="_blank">Our Flickr Page</a> and a video, shown below. It was an amazing day, and we are definitely trying to work out how we can work with these horses again in the future. What was completely clear from our experience is that horses can do the work on sensitive ancient woodland sites such as ours not only better than machinery, but with lower impact and very much more pleasure to all involved. The few spectators who came along were very impressed, as were we. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_74N8ayz5INqTb2PadKqWb99N8vFBkX2IkDRPFKFp4G4Uww8tTcnR5I_eTa-u8-Zt75XprB0E4HOYkPtybYX4si6I-h9jj7lc-XOzh-rXYA8arYg_wbVmM2b8HkwNJhEcAWZNfV8ek8/s1600/horselogging-lr-122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_74N8ayz5INqTb2PadKqWb99N8vFBkX2IkDRPFKFp4G4Uww8tTcnR5I_eTa-u8-Zt75XprB0E4HOYkPtybYX4si6I-h9jj7lc-XOzh-rXYA8arYg_wbVmM2b8HkwNJhEcAWZNfV8ek8/s320/horselogging-lr-122.jpg" width="320" /></a>Horses are not obsolete. They can do work, and do it very well. When the oil runs out, they may have to do it again, and we will all be grateful to those who keep these wonderful breeds going for the future. I know we are.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5ZSyaNTQqvskXIh6Nw_OagzGXW6zxSAJtssahrUqFWaFdVvuivnZzw6PyJrKUIWmaDC7cebWGHxMqxIqwcYII4u1HHvmQw6ArZxH28a_ipBXJoiqV0k16W97IaARfVvaeApjUp6guE4/s1600/horselogging-lr-118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/l85sHSiET-Y?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></a></div>
Please take a moment to watch this video. Dillon warmed up with a few lighter logs before getting stuck in to the larger stuff. <br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-15352776375533852002013-03-18T16:48:00.000+00:002013-03-18T16:48:44.921+00:00Green Woodworking - A Developing Skill<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7bqeRRqnGxL1pSNhTYCv41pEnN-BE5bzsRYLLLeXRUracpri11puOwtBwcPRKXjxTfp2P70I5MSuRNtZ_t_6maax2n9FE1w29J9Z-zT0werV71FT1cA0aO8jvpS4TNXz5E6gTTBrjyQ/s1600/pole-lathe-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7bqeRRqnGxL1pSNhTYCv41pEnN-BE5bzsRYLLLeXRUracpri11puOwtBwcPRKXjxTfp2P70I5MSuRNtZ_t_6maax2n9FE1w29J9Z-zT0werV71FT1cA0aO8jvpS4TNXz5E6gTTBrjyQ/s320/pole-lathe-100.jpg" width="320" /></a>It has been slow developing, but I’m now developing a real
love for green woodworking, and in particular green wood turning using a pole
lathe.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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The first time I had a go was in November 2011, when Peter
Wood from Greenwood Days came to the woods to give us an introduction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then in 2012 I attended a stool-making course
with Greenwood Days, and Peter very kindly built me a pole lathe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also managed to get a shave-horse, and was
now set up to do wood turning.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Of course that came at the wrong time of year – no new wood
would be cut until the winter, so I had no green wood to play with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did a little bit of turning with dry wood,
but it wasn’t really suitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I turned
a few mushrooms from stems we did cut during the summer, but I was waiting for
the winter with great enthusiasm.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Our winter started late, thanks to deteriorating health, and
a stay in hospital, but having now got stuck in to thinning we have some green
wood to work with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it was that my
pole lathe and shave horse were moved into our new wood-drying shed, providing
a great sheltered area to work in.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The pole lathe is adjustable in height, which means we can
both use it, and also uses a bungee as this allows it to be moved around
easily, and used both indoors and out (helpful when the weather turns really
cold).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first task was to get some
billets large enough to work with – not easy, as most of the stems we were
felling were quite small, at least initially.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFVOjeo6UfBRMdzWH1avIZC5SUyUFGtDzVuf3fui90h3Qy5UQQHp4yZ5qQygK5Gg3Je6QHHvfNl267GTr5iXia2VpY9aM7xWNoqgt1HyKtA2oVYzplWIwl8TFFIppHQlWxfeQ0uNBd5_8/s1600/pole-lathe-101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFVOjeo6UfBRMdzWH1avIZC5SUyUFGtDzVuf3fui90h3Qy5UQQHp4yZ5qQygK5Gg3Je6QHHvfNl267GTr5iXia2VpY9aM7xWNoqgt1HyKtA2oVYzplWIwl8TFFIppHQlWxfeQ0uNBd5_8/s320/pole-lathe-101.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So it was that I started off turning mushrooms from complete
poles of sycamore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a way this is
harder than working with a nice straight billet split from a log, as you don’t
get a completely straight pole, so starting off on the lathe is quite jerky and
difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However I managed to produce
some workable mushrooms of different sizes, and tried out some hawthorn and
holly as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hawthorn was
surprisingly easy to work, considering how it is often very twisted, and also a
very hard wood when it is dry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
holly was very hard to work – very dense, very wet, and in the end the
mushrooms split too easily after working, early on in the drying process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will probably leave the remaining holly
poles to dry a bit before working them.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I then managed to split some oak and ash logs and started
working them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bearing in mind my entire
pole lathe experience to date has been one not-altogether-great garden dibber,
three stool legs (they were better) and a few mushrooms, this was a bit
daunting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d never really used the
spindle gouge or skew chisel in anger, never turned a bead, could only work
handles and knobs in one direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
short, I was a complete beginner.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But I tried to apply what I had learned to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I have a side-axe, I find it much
easier to use my little Gransfors hatchet to axe off the corners of the split
logs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is light enough for me to use,
and although it isn’t a side axe, I find it works more like a knife, and it
suits me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can certainly get the crude
billets reasonably round and straight, whereas the heavier side axe is harder
to use and I get fatigued more quickly.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BFPOPc3wO2xfwf3qAvHsDTLNF5uvLy6OpTZ98ZhqhlohO9aJ3cPAmlBk0JFOohAVrwzIUV1M10_4KFNCaNjOXrQIgdC22GEpV8hRHzU-Ar3no-AlHZW0396vgD4kQhXhU0lv8rak72k/s1600/treesurgery-103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BFPOPc3wO2xfwf3qAvHsDTLNF5uvLy6OpTZ98ZhqhlohO9aJ3cPAmlBk0JFOohAVrwzIUV1M10_4KFNCaNjOXrQIgdC22GEpV8hRHzU-Ar3no-AlHZW0396vgD4kQhXhU0lv8rak72k/s320/treesurgery-103.jpg" width="320" /></a>I then used the draw-knife to shave the pieces into
smoother, rounder, straighter billets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
love shaving, and could honestly get carried away and shave too much before it
ever gets to the lathe. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is just a
peaceful and therapeutic activity, sitting in the woods, listening to the
woodpeckers drumming, sipping coffee and enjoying the winter sunshine.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Then the big test – the lathe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took a while to remember all the things
you need to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting it centred,
oiling the spindles, getting it set up so that the gearing is correct (how many
turns to the cord to use).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the
end, I managed to get started.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The roughing gouge is easy, and I wasn’t scared of using it,
so I managed to get a round piece of wood quite quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then I had to move on to other tools, and
just had to make mistakes until I got the hang of turning beads using the skew
chisel, turning spindles using the spindle gouge, and smoothing it all off
using the flat chisel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stephen also had
some tools he has used on a powered lathe, and I had a go with these – various
scrapers and a gouge with a different diameter.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Slowly and surely, I started to produce stuff that wasn’t
too bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots and lots of cord-pulls,
some toilet roll and kitchen roll holders, a couple of rolling pins, a few
garden dibbers, and a honey-dipper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
tried turning round knobs at the end of things – first at one end, and then at
the other end of the piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned to
turn things in both directions, so I didn’t get lazy and one-handed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was so exciting to start off with
enthusiasm and no skill and very gradually start to gain control over what was
happening with the wood.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One thing I really loved was putting the billet onto the
lathe and then looking at the wood and deciding what the wood wanted to be made
into, rather than starting with a pre-conceived idea of what I would make from
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SG-rWB5Nsr7G2X3tGr41vSyJbZ4q0HvjG1AR0VLPBs9NqD8AlQI0BPR8atN71QBhkm2vNWVlsrWX5gKfp2QHKAqzPc_E1tAiNFnYn1jZkCuimRXIp_c362swJFsRt7Tj9mevTrgwN-Y/s1600/treesurgery-101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SG-rWB5Nsr7G2X3tGr41vSyJbZ4q0HvjG1AR0VLPBs9NqD8AlQI0BPR8atN71QBhkm2vNWVlsrWX5gKfp2QHKAqzPc_E1tAiNFnYn1jZkCuimRXIp_c362swJFsRt7Tj9mevTrgwN-Y/s320/treesurgery-101.jpg" width="320" /></a>Now we have finished thinning, I have a window of a few
weeks in which to turn the larger logs I have into stool legs so they can dry
out, and be mounted into a stool, bench or table top made from seasoned wood
(of which we have plenty).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am enjoying
trying out different types of green wood – ash is lovely, but holly needs a bit
more work, oak can be a bit flaky, and I’ve got some sycamore, hawthorn and
some larch to try (it didn’t work – but I had a go).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I find I can lose track of time with my wood turning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get up to the woods mid-morning, and forget
to eat or drink, even though I have sandwiches and a flask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can spend all day there, and get home with
something to show for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something that
feels special, because it is part of the woods, was made in the woods, and has
a part of my heart and soul and toil in it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is so much more to learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would love to make lovely handles for
tools, for example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really want to
learn how to make a bowl-turning pole lathe and turn bowls from green wood. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day I want to make another shave horse
from our own wood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am SO pleased I
took the plunge, went on a course, learned how to do it, and then persisted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have made lots of mistakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stuff I make is far from perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But every little bit of wood is an exercise
in which I can learn and gain skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And if it goes really wrong, the shavings can be used in the
Kelly-kettle and the rest dried out and used as kindling – so nothing is
wasted. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-20415026366927202072013-03-18T16:43:00.002+00:002013-03-18T16:43:24.300+00:00Tree Surgeons<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vkPcYtkPWMs/UUdDYZUWvNI/AAAAAAAAA3c/KCtuksh-7tI/s1600/treesurgery-105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vkPcYtkPWMs/UUdDYZUWvNI/AAAAAAAAA3c/KCtuksh-7tI/s320/treesurgery-105.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We do a lot of the work at the woods ourselves, together
with some fantastic volunteers, who give up their time and work hard to help us
improve the woods for wildlife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are
generally quite capable, able to do our own coppicing including felling the
trees, manage our own young trees, sort out our own paths and rides and glades,
mow our own meadows, manage our own ponds, do our own dead-hedging – in short,
we do a lot of it ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn’t
buy the woods so we could bring in contractors and other people to do the work
for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We take pleasure in doing the
work ourselves and that is what we do.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
But sometimes, just sometimes, we need the help of
professionals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, we were doing
some thinning in the area of the woods we call the “plantation”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is so called because it is clear that at
least some of the trees have been planted there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular the larch trees, which don’t
occur anywhere else on site, which are not native to the site or area, and
which are now of an age and size where they need to be felled to allow other
trees to develop properly, to let in light to the forest floor, and to reduce
the risk of importing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phytophthora
ramorum</i> infection into our oak woodlands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We thinned out some other trees too – some rather
poorly-developed oak, willow and hawthorn trees now shaded by the canopy, some
dead trees, a very badly formed ash, and some holly (to let in light).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were left with these enormous larch trees,
over 40 feet high. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We could fell them ourselves, but the problem with larch is
that they have a long, straight trunk and then a very bushy canopy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bringing this bushy canopy down without
removing the branches first risked damaging the young trees in the area that were
few in number and that we very much wished to leave undamaged to become the
next generation in the woods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So we got in the tree surgeons for a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now this costs money, but we felt it was
worth it for a number of reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First,
we got the larch felled without damaging the other trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, the tree surgeons we use are also
chainsaw and tree surgery instructors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This means we can get training, and we can do some of the work under
their supervision (although we don’t do tree climbing).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We develop our skills, we help them out which
helps to cut costs, everybody is happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We can also get other jobs done while they are there, using their
chipper to chip the brash and line the paths with chips, something that helps
improve their condition and reduce the muddiness. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So it was that before 8am, we arrived with the three tree
surgeons and their equipment to start a busy day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a cold wind blowing, we needed to wrap
up, and were thankful for our padded chainsaw trousers and gloves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We watched with great respect as these very
skilled guys climbed our larch trees, took off the limbs with a small chainsaw
and then came down, leaving a lovely straight trunk for felling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglI_Bvxuw7gUBqUy9Wn2IF3xgbNXLiCa4pE9D8wec39YTPlCGv1Y7nfvUtvYZ46rcYEUhhKnxdEMK8NqH8Kh6AfIvMZXP9TtDKJvlYqTDFDX_Qxf5plipvHSHg9hAhYcMa1bmEFcTaihI/s1600/treesurgery-104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglI_Bvxuw7gUBqUy9Wn2IF3xgbNXLiCa4pE9D8wec39YTPlCGv1Y7nfvUtvYZ46rcYEUhhKnxdEMK8NqH8Kh6AfIvMZXP9TtDKJvlYqTDFDX_Qxf5plipvHSHg9hAhYcMa1bmEFcTaihI/s320/treesurgery-104.jpg" width="205" /></a>The surgeons then guided Stephen to help him improve the
precision with which he felled these very large trees, allowing him to make the
cuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also watched my chainsaw
technique as I tackled the very difficult task of cutting up a larch that was
felled with branches on, as well as a very twisted ash tree, that had both
fallen together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried not to feel the
pressure, as I tried to assess the task, decide which ways the stresses in the
wood were working, and make the cuts cleanly and correctly using good and safe
technique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn’t easy to work when
you are being watched so closely, but I managed a good job, only getting the
bar stuck once (and that wasn’t predictable and the instructor confirmed that
as I had tested the weight beforehand).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was complimented on safe handling of the saw, safe starting, using
techniques such as leaving a leg on the branch in case it rolled towards me,
and generally doing a good job. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We also had to fell a dead sycamore that was next to a path,
and hence a risk that needed to be dealt with under our tree safety policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We needed to do this without damaging some
hazel saplings planted nearby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, it
was a pleasure to watch the guys climbing and how they carefully removed weight
to ensure the tree fell in the correct direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We managed to bring the tree down precisely
onto the path, and were left with the task of cutting it up and stacking it
before it got too dark, as well as chipping the brash – we just got done in
time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We really valued our day with the experts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are lovely guys, so skilled and so
willing to teach us – just as we are hungry to learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were totally exhausted at the end of the
day and are full of admiration for these skilled people, who will work just as
hard the next day, and the next, and the next!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, money can be tight, but there is a lot to be gained from having the
experts visit your woods, do some work, and help you learn.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With many thanks to Mike, Paul and John from Arborcare (<a href="http://www.treesurgerytamworth.co.uk/index.html">http://www.treesurgerytamworth.co.uk/index.html</a>)
for their hard work, skills and patience during their day at the woods.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-8525707393686785402013-02-05T16:38:00.000+00:002013-02-05T16:38:09.527+00:00Governmment Forestry Policy Statement - What Does It Mean?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Thursday 31<sup>st</sup> January 2013, the Government
announced its long-awaited response to the Independent Forestry Panel (IFP)
Report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And with it came the good news
that there would be no sell-off of the Public Forest Estate (PFE) in England,
and that the Government accepted many of the recommendations of the (IFP).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the devil is in the detail of this
report, and after taking time to read it, a lot of questions remain, because it
is not clear whether or not this response really is good news, nor is it clear
what they are going to do, by when, and who is going to do it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reading the Executive Summary, it all looks very
promising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular, the Government
agrees with the panel on</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>"The need to develop a new woodland culture and a resilient forestry and woodland sector</i></li>
<li><i>The importance of protecting our woodlands</i></li>
<li><i>The need to bring more woodland into active management and increase the extent of woodland cover in England</i></li>
<li><i>The need to help the sector to find its voice and improve its economic performance</i></li>
<li><i>The importance of preserving and maximising the social and environmental benefits provided by trees and woodlands, particularly in and around our towns a cities</i></li>
<li><i>The scope for developing new markets based around a better understanding of the value and potential of our trees, woods and forests</i></li>
<li><i>The value of retaining a skilled cadre of forestry experts within the public sector". </i></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span style="color: #221e1f; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But what are the Government actually saying, and what are
they actually going to do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
drilled down into a few of the areas where I have concerns that this policy
will deliver on the ground what the IFP proposed, and whether this policy
document follows the spirit of the IFP report.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Ownership and
Governance</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkqLqDmGixrsetY0-bTqGznDfkfL8DdvXDIaCZHx7c-S1-yPysaly5vF4sL1Zz3XBTBYdbBrYAuMXrvQap-HblaLvbVS3qBWAFfupn05CTz-niKekCeaktjW-Qbk38ZCrvia7oY4z6xOA/s1600/hollieswood-firstedit-121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkqLqDmGixrsetY0-bTqGznDfkfL8DdvXDIaCZHx7c-S1-yPysaly5vF4sL1Zz3XBTBYdbBrYAuMXrvQap-HblaLvbVS3qBWAFfupn05CTz-niKekCeaktjW-Qbk38ZCrvia7oY4z6xOA/s320/hollieswood-firstedit-121.jpg" width="320" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The great news is that the PFE is going to remain in public ownership</i></b>,
overseen by a new body that will evolve from the commercial arm of the Forestry
Commission, Forest Enterprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will
hold the public forests in trust for the nation and be charged with maximising
the economic, societal and environmental benefits of the PFE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also intended that the new body will
not have to sell off land to balance the books, although it may buy and sell
land as part of its role in maximising public forest benefit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far so good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However there are some concerns over the way
in which this will be implemented.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, there is the language of the response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the IFP report, the benefits of
forests and woodlands have been listed in the following order –
environment/biodiversity, societal/community, economic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the response, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the order has been reversed</i>, giving economic benefits apparent
priority, a feeling which is enhanced by the imperative for the new body to become
more financially independent, and to develop new entrepreneurial ways of
managing forests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While this is not a
bad thing, and in deed was mentioned in the report, it was not the first
element of Recommendation 26, which included a provision for intervention in
the event of market failure, something that the Government response has omitted
in favour of a market-driven approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recommendation 28 of the IFP report clearly stated that this
new Public Forest Management body (PFM) would be independent from Government
direction “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">except in matters where it
delivers international obligations on behalf of the Government or in cases
where Parliament feels the body is acting outside of, or failing to deliver its
mandate</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the response, however,
the Government intends to retain oversight of the new body and give it
direction, making it more likely to be centrally directed than was the
intention of the IFP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The role of the PFM body was outlined in Recommendation 26,
and this was a very strong recommendation which was very specific about the
role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However the response is that these
recommendations are only a starting point for further discussion with
stakeholders (without defining who those stakeholders are).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are the nitty-gritty of the IFP report,
and the Government response leaves us wondering which if any of these intended
purposes the new PFM body will actually have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The response tells us the PFM body <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">could</i>
have these roles, but not that it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i>
have these roles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Important roles, such
as: Maximising public value in terms of wildlife, recreation, education and
cultural heritage, exemplar of sustainable woodland management, exemplar of
conservation of wildlife in woodlands and associated habitats, promoting
quality access, managing market failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All these roles are up for negotiation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTH7_QrzUXnKxxrhIRXUwbOBE1YmtWjjoBiyTtPK6ImQ6UfR9WM7pz1uR1grxvz2IDRr0a6lPctRxrtAZ6P4qP5-IjWTTC_M4Z1E-BQGPAy-HSBrix5WwCuIo-cv8j9KjLoLuV_mrjsxE/s1600/hollieswood-firstedit-105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTH7_QrzUXnKxxrhIRXUwbOBE1YmtWjjoBiyTtPK6ImQ6UfR9WM7pz1uR1grxvz2IDRr0a6lPctRxrtAZ6P4qP5-IjWTTC_M4Z1E-BQGPAy-HSBrix5WwCuIo-cv8j9KjLoLuV_mrjsxE/s320/hollieswood-firstedit-105.jpg" width="320" /></a>There is also the issue of governance of this new body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The intention was that this would be overseen
by a panel of Guardians, and with stakeholder and community consultation at the
heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Guardians would be responsible
for overseeing the new body, for ensuring that the public benefit and statutory
duties are delivered via the Charter, and the Guardians (or Trustees) would be
accountable to Parliament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This isn’t
what the Government says will happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The new body will have a Board that will report to the Secretary of
State at DEFRA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Guardians are seen
as an add-on, a sort of expert panel who will advise on and support the new PFM
body remit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, there is not a
commitment to establishing Guardians in this review (if you read it carefully
they are “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exploring the scope for
establishing a separate group of Guardians…”</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The role of Guardians seems to be
substantially watered-down when compared with the intention of the IFP report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we don’t even know who they will be –
what will be the balance between large and small, industry and community,
environment and economics, and where will the involvement come for those at the
grass roots who live and work in the woods themselves?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then there is stakeholder consultation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recommendation 30 suggests that there should
be stakeholder consultation on the annual corporate plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This should be at<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> local</i> level and in partnership with “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">friends’ groups, charities, businesses and others…</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The response suggests that this consultation
would not happen annually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Language
is also interesting – although there is an expectation that the PFM body will
engage with stakeholders and communities, the order is again reversed – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“local businesses, charities and
communities…this will involve working effectively with friends groups...”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, the ordering of words puts businesses
ahead of local friends’ groups and communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And they will only have a say in a rolling multi-year (not defined how
many years) plan, rather than an annual say in the corporate plan, which gives
the feel that this plan will become expert-led, rather than community-led, and
consultation will lack teeth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Protection and
Conservation</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Protection is very much seen in this response as being
protection from threats to plant health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This area of the response looks good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Professor Boyd’s review of Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity, additional
funding for research and a commitment to develop and maintain research in this
field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also mention of management
of invasive plant species such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rhododendron</i>
and management of species that harm regeneration including grey squirrel and
wild deer, although the onus is placed on individual landowners and it is not
clear how this will be co-ordinated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is also a commitment to research appropriate sustainable woodland
creation in the light of climate change.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs9-dQ-m32czBRyTrkchzIdQJLfsGjx-NCP8654ApuxwgF4i08Y_caLYnF_XcnA5SJnGwu18wuU2F-NRjl7n3t8lqHQS1psbmqRIbf6lJbeMEDSmHS87Bhtnodv2Q78eFLqlg7e4jNO4U/s1600/Pooley-128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs9-dQ-m32czBRyTrkchzIdQJLfsGjx-NCP8654ApuxwgF4i08Y_caLYnF_XcnA5SJnGwu18wuU2F-NRjl7n3t8lqHQS1psbmqRIbf6lJbeMEDSmHS87Bhtnodv2Q78eFLqlg7e4jNO4U/s320/Pooley-128.jpg" width="320" /></a>The IFP report stopped short of recommending that ancient
woodland (ASNW) and plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS) gain greater
statutory protection under planning legislation, but the intention was there to
ensure they have a high level of protection, and in Recommendation 15, that the
national forest inventory should inform SSSI designation with the implication
that this designation be extended to at least some ASNW.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The IFP report felt planning policy should <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“...refuse planning permission for
developments that would have an adverse impact upon them...”</i>, (where “them”
is ASNW, veteran trees and other priority habitats).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the National Planning Policy Framework
(NPPF) carries the rider <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“...unless the
need for, and benefits of, the development in that location clearly outweigh
the loss</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The difficulty is in
defining what clear needs and benefits are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is likely to come from case law and appeals – something for which
developers have much greater available funding to take to appeal than councils
have to defend decisions, with the inevitable consequence that some
developments will proceed unchallenged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Despite the rhetoric of putting a high priority on protection of ASNW,
new infrastructure developments of roads and rail (including HS2) will result
in destruction or adverse effects upon over 80 sites of precious, vanishing
ASNW.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IFP clearly stated an adverse
effect should result in refusal of planning permission, but these projects are
going ahead despite this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This does not
bode well for existing levels of protection under the NPPF.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recommendation 13 deals with landscape-scale conservation as
envisaged by the Lawton Report (2010) and the Natural Environment White Paper
(NEWP).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is clear that the intention
was to put a new advisory body at the heart of delivering this via designation
of new SSSI, pro-active identification and management of woodlands, greater
connectivity between habitats, and restoration of nationally-important forest
habitats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Government response
devolves this all to Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) and Local Enterprise
Partnerships (LEPs), with a danger that landscape-scale is reduced again to
local scale, and the potential benefits of the NEWP are lost, and woodlands are
lost within many competing priorities for funding.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Future of the
Forestry Commission</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All of this brings us nicely to the future of the Forestry
Commission (FC).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Forest Enterprise
becoming the PFM body, this leaves us with Forest Research (which is going to
continue, at least in some form, possibly with increased resources), and Forest
Services (FS) which is the branch of the FC with which many small woodland
owners are familiar, being the body from whom they get grants and to which they
go for advice, and to submit management plans, and to obtain felling licences.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasNQezQHYCMa950Lqk3cPy5MHnl7D5HLGQ0p0jBT-ZQZ4ASlQwBhy8smGP-tQypLb1nwOo02hmmZ59VOfb8bkDNg4HuohdvFGEe_UIwgm7ddEKqLZQ9gqDp6VrhQ8qRUWnpzXHLM0VoM/s1600/naturalstripes-113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasNQezQHYCMa950Lqk3cPy5MHnl7D5HLGQ0p0jBT-ZQZ4ASlQwBhy8smGP-tQypLb1nwOo02hmmZ59VOfb8bkDNg4HuohdvFGEe_UIwgm7ddEKqLZQ9gqDp6VrhQ8qRUWnpzXHLM0VoM/s320/naturalstripes-113.jpg" width="269" /></a>Recommendation 23 was quite positive about a new, more
robust, and expanded role for FS, which would take on the duties of the FC and
the Forestry Commissioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should
“... <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">become a public body, charged with
championing, protecting and increasing benefits from trees, woodlands and
forests that are good for people, good for nature and good for the green
economy.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have a pivotal role in developing
ecosystem services, pulling in resources, working with land owners and
Government, look at ways to develop profit from woodlands, and to enhance
biodiversity and improve ecosystem services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This looked like a robust recommendation and an enhanced and expanded
role for FS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alarm bells ring for me at
the response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The Government needs to retain a core of forestry expertise with the
capacity to deliver a range of functions, duties and powers including, for
example…”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and goes on to list some
of the potential roles including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Enabling
the sector to protect, improve and expand England’s trees woods and forests
through light touch regulation, grants, other incentives and advice.”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All well and good, except that no commitment
is given to how and where this might be delivered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Natural England (NE) and the Environment
Agency (EA) are undergoing a triennial review which will be published in Spring
2013, and the general vibes are that these bodies will both merge <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> subsume the new FS organisation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The IFP wanted advice to be proactive – for this body to go
out, look for under-managed woodlands, and offer advice and help and incentives
proactively to manage them (Recommendation 11).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Currently, advice is available, as are grants, from the existing FS arm
of the FC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is free to
landowners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However the Government
response to Recommendation 11 commits only to making sure landowners know where
to go for advice and help, not that this advice or help will continue to be
impartial or free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For small woodland
owners, the requirement to pay for advice would preclude its uptake for many.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even more worrying is the prospect that this remnant of the
FC will be split into two – some functions being subsumed by DEFRA and some
going to the new remnant body, wherever this sits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its future does not look like the new,
robust, proactive public body envisaged by the IFP.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Improvement of
existing woodlands – delivering the benefits</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This section of the response covers economic, societal and
environmental benefits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This section
starts with some good words, including the potential for realising
environmental benefits, including ecosystem services, and the realisation that
minimal management can be a positive decision for some woodlands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The aim is to increase the proportion of
woodlands in active management to two thirds, eventually to 80%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However this depends on the provision of
appropriate, timely, independent and expert advice and help – the Government
have commissioned research on the best way to deliver this, but it remains to
be seen whether this will continue to be free, an essential feature of current
FC advice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is also a commitment to a review by Peter Bonfield of
the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to develop a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">…”clear roadmap to a new and successful future for England’s
forest-based supply chains.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Looking
at the CONFOR web site, through which this is to be delivered, the vast
majority of stakeholders participating in this review are large and corporate,
with The Small Woods Association being the only voice of those small woodland
owners who, individually, do not and cannot produce sufficient to market their
products individually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The action-plan
for developing markets is very industry-led, and market-led, and there is
little evidence of what can or will be done in the event that the market fails
to deliver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is a great deal here about developing wood fuel
markets, and of bringing woodland products to market from publicly-owned
woodlands not in FC ownership, including those in Councils and National
Parks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also a commitment to
expand use of wood for construction, although the response falls short of the
“wood first” principle envisaged in Recommendation 21 – rather that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“..local planning authorities, developers
and their architects should consider how locally-sourced materials can make a
strong contribution to local character and distinctiveness</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not “wood first”, rather “think about
wood”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recommendation 5 stated that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Education authorities and early learning centres should ensure that
every child has an element of woodland-based learning that will, for example,
encourage woodland owners to form a partnership with a local school”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not accepted, instead placing the
onus on the school to decide what is right for their pupils, and no funding is
provided other than the Pupil Premium, for which there are many competing
demands, including Forest Schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
response also appears to equate visits to woodlands with Forest Schools –
clearly the two are very different.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Community involvement appears to be limited to the Localism
Act, and the designation of Local Green Space <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“which could include woodlands”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i>But these are limited in size, and to urban areas, towns and
villages, not rural areas, and offer limited scope for protection of larger
areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recommendation 8 is robust, and
envisages woodland strategies being integrated into Local Plans, as well as
encouraging tourism and leisure based businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The response is more along the lines that
these plans <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">could</i> include woodlands,
rather than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very watered-down.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEJ6uOvMYUFMg6fA75hmYFj6UxcPgs9PvhiWCHM5lMGrebfNBePQbKn7SnHkCBoHyvb24zKhvaSShz_OueSbP9djV6oTHP7QYadGLSTftrwpS0NmTvVbfcwVFBfAtlNPizTG-nsm-xxs/s1600/sunset-trees-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEJ6uOvMYUFMg6fA75hmYFj6UxcPgs9PvhiWCHM5lMGrebfNBePQbKn7SnHkCBoHyvb24zKhvaSShz_OueSbP9djV6oTHP7QYadGLSTftrwpS0NmTvVbfcwVFBfAtlNPizTG-nsm-xxs/s320/sunset-trees-100.jpg" width="320" /></a>Access is also a major strand of this response, as expected,
given the strong recommendations surrounding access in the IFP Report
(Recommendations 4, 5, 6 and 7, plus elements of others).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Woodland Trust Access Standard, and the
VisitWoods gateway is seen as the way in which people can find out which
woodlands are open to public visits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
many woodlands that are open to the public some of the time are not included on
this database. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a great deal
about planting trees close to people and incentivising access, but this is
based around encouragement, rather than funding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Opening to the public costs money in
insurance premiums, staffing, maintenance, damage repair and tree-safety among
other things, and there is nothing in the response about how anything other
than encouragement will be used, despite these costs being prohibitive to small
woodland owners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Potential for nature is left until last, and will be
delivered via Local Nature Partnerships and Nature Improvement Areas outlined
in the NEWP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new, welcome, Open
Habitats policy is to be introduced to protect lowland heath where woodland is
encroaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A commitment to use of
biodiversity offsetting is again given:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the idea that if a development damages habitat, this can be offset by
investment in habitat elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
opens the way for trading in habitats, including ancient woodland – offsetting
loss of valuable habitat in one area by creation of more, lower quality habitat
in another makes no ecological sense, since this is like selling the crown
jewels for a skip-load of cheap jewellery.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is good is the acknowledgement that the priorities of
economics, community and wildlife can work together by sustainable woodland
management that can produce both good wood and timber, and good habitat, and
potentially also provide for public access.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However where the balance will lie is yet to be determined.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Woodland Expansion
and Realising Value</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is a commitment to accelerate the creation of woodland
that has been happening through the 20<sup>th</sup> Century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The response makes much of partnerships, such
as those developed in the National Forest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The principle of the right tree in the right place is reiterated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far so good.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, the key for privately-owned land, which is the
majority of land, is to get landowners to plant trees <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">where it suits them and their local conditions and priorities</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">laissez-faire</i>
approach is unlikely to deliver the ecosystem and biodiversity benefits that
can come from a planned landscape-scale approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there is an imperative to make this
woodland economically viable as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is virtually no mention of finance other than via private finance,
the woodland carbon code, ecosystem services, biodiversity offsetting and
philanthropic investment for the purposes of public relations and business
image. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmNmuYdpdhPwK3jx8SN1uaGrSBaq1Llgp4-j1b-SVKt505WiOx5JhqQ1GwIur7bIfhcIHUhuC2oZzt_bSGsXFiS1ACa1XnFJsVu7SD6q3S-wImQgpfvhHKYz008JMKQI3af98NZJnKj0/s1600/odctumpcoppice-107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmNmuYdpdhPwK3jx8SN1uaGrSBaq1Llgp4-j1b-SVKt505WiOx5JhqQ1GwIur7bIfhcIHUhuC2oZzt_bSGsXFiS1ACa1XnFJsVu7SD6q3S-wImQgpfvhHKYz008JMKQI3af98NZJnKj0/s320/odctumpcoppice-107.jpg" width="213" /></a>In order to get funding for projects that recognise the
value that woodlands provide to the ecosystem, we need to be able to value these
services properly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This process is in
its infancy, and best developed in carbon offsetting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carbon capture is most prominent in young,
fast-growing woodlands such as new plantations, rapid-growth timber and coppice
re-growth, and if not carefully managed, this could lead to inappropriate
management plans centred around carbon capture that could disadvantage mature
and ancient woodlands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coppicing is not
appropriate everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other services
are being developed, such as flood management, but there is a risk that if
investment in expansion is market-driven, it will be weighted towards services
that can be easily valued, such as carbon offsetting, and thus towards
rapidly-growing woodlands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Markets are essential for woodland owners to offset the
costs of running their woods, and to develop viable businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is worrying is that the whole approach
is market-driven, and there are no checks and balances built in when and if the
market fails to deliver balanced expansion of woodland that meets multiple priorities
for people and nature, as well as business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In addition, market development may favour larger producers at the
expense of smaller ones, yet these are the ones in whose hands much of the
privately-owned woodlands rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Woodlands
do need to create produce, and markets are needed for this produce, but the
markets need to serve <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i> woodland
owners, not just the larger estates.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Funding</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The document is, as expected, not explicit on commitments to
this except in small areas such as Forest Research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is hard to blame the Government here, as
the amount of money available under the next Rural Development Plan for England
(RDPE) will not be known until the outcome of negotiations on the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP) is known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
appears to be clear is there will be less money in 2014-2020 than before, and
thus the availability of help, advice, grants and incentives that are free to
landowners is likely to be reduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Indeed, the PFM body will see funding progressively reduced as their
commercial activities ramp up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Funding
for the PFM body will be maintained in the current spending review period to
avoid the need to sell off assets and maintain high levels of benefit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what about the rest?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The IFP Report was ambitious in that many
other landowners and other sectors would be engaged in maximising public
benefits from woodlands and forests, but for many this would be dependent on
grants and free advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Partnerships can
boost this funding, but will it boost it to the level required to maintain and
build on what the FC currently deliver?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Particularly if it is cut under the CAP review.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Conclusion</u></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-Z5BdMpuSel-yMesxMhi75ycvpBYwSSR8g0JehjdcH5vuNJdvq744V5MOqBuaFv1CbJUsfdffFoki01hfAtkp_czwdWxuJchpmPtWiNuv9cVooML8owTd2FsG2uUg3EjpI1pglijne4/s1600/AW-snowing-111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-Z5BdMpuSel-yMesxMhi75ycvpBYwSSR8g0JehjdcH5vuNJdvq744V5MOqBuaFv1CbJUsfdffFoki01hfAtkp_czwdWxuJchpmPtWiNuv9cVooML8owTd2FsG2uUg3EjpI1pglijne4/s320/AW-snowing-111.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The major triumph of the public outcry over the plans to
sell off our woodlands and forests, and the IFP Report, is that the PFE will
remain in public hands, held in trust for the nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also good elements in this
response:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>looking at ways to bring money
in to woodlands, looking at ways to involve communities, looking at ways to
improve access, looking at ways to protect trees against diseases and climate
change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The commitment to develop and
open habitats strategy is also good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is perhaps understandable that the Government cannot commit to funding when the
outcome of CAP reform is not known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
there is a worrying dependence on a market-driven mechanism for delivering this
policy. The roles of the Guardians of the PFE, and of stakeholder consultation
have been watered-down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A stated commitment
to protection of ancient woodlands is not backed-up by the NPPF, and nothing
here is changing that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The role of the
new PFM body is very much up for discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From the point of view of a small woodland owner, how can an owner with
few resources of his or her own get access to free advice, to grants, to
support for tapping in to local markets and local partnership funding?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And how are public voices to continue to be
heard?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stakeholder input to the PFM body
is watered-down, and there is limited scope for communities to influence local
plans, particularly where they involve woodlands and forests not currently in
public ownership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It all looks like a
top-down, rather than grass-roots solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps most worrying is the failure to commit to woodland-based
education for all children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without a
next generation of children who understand woodlands, their value, their
management, and their contribution to the ecosystem, the future of our forests
and woodlands remains uncertain.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-16563456592911345742013-02-01T15:41:00.000+00:002013-02-01T15:41:11.897+00:00HS2 - Selling the Crown Jewels<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW64SRp6PwHDUAm5YN2OEZpNOmdQL1x4eu68KpQx1bh9k7JNQUwxnshNKw3Oa9wli9wROiHmDIcejml3XCaT8EEvbT29mzv14ilhAvJ7-NUvHtgQhv3J1wunxs8xyVO5l2KHYhqJu7MDY/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW64SRp6PwHDUAm5YN2OEZpNOmdQL1x4eu68KpQx1bh9k7JNQUwxnshNKw3Oa9wli9wROiHmDIcejml3XCaT8EEvbT29mzv14ilhAvJ7-NUvHtgQhv3J1wunxs8xyVO5l2KHYhqJu7MDY/s320/autumcoloursbuilding-116.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HS2 will pass along the horizon as seen from Betty's Wood </td></tr>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This week the northern route of High Speed Rail 2 to
Manchester and Leeds was announced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HS2
is, apparently, going to bring about an economic miracle, creating jobs,
slashing journey times and cascading prosperity out from London to the North.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the process, it is going to blight the
lives of many individuals and communities for many years to come, destroy many
jobs and businesses with knock-on effects to the local community and it is
going to cut through priceless, irreplaceable wildlife habitats and
countryside.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
HS2 to the North is going to go through 17 ancient
woodlands, one SSSI and up to 30 biodiversity action plan sites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is going to cut through two of the three
country parks used by people in North Warwickshire (Pooley and Kingsbury Water
Park).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is going to cut the National
Forest in two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is going to destroy
businesses and severely impact upon farms en route. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i0nODOHbOko/UQvgfhIId7I/AAAAAAAAA1Q/iP5V_9sFBts/s1600/winterbw-109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i0nODOHbOko/UQvgfhIId7I/AAAAAAAAA1Q/iP5V_9sFBts/s320/winterbw-109.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HS2 will cut through the trees in this picture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Transport corridors are important habitats for wildlife – we
know this and the Natural England White Paper acknowledges it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trees and plants alongside road and rail
provide refuge for many birds, plants and animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what is the big deal?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely a new railway line will actually
provide a lot of wildlife habitat?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well,
yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is that most of this
habitat is relatively low-grade, and supports relatively few species, and is of
relatively low quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>High quality
habitats, such as lowland heath in Staffordshire, or ancient woodland, or SSSI,
take many years to develop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
habitats may be small in area but they are high in quality, with many
ecological niches that support a wide diversity of plants and animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You cannot recreate this – once it is gone,
it is gone forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And little by little
we are destroying ancient woodland, justifying it by the benefit to the
economy, and by the fact that it is only a little bit we are destroying.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the fact is you cannot replace the crown jewels with a
skipload of cheap jewellery, which is effectively what we are doing here –
destroying beautiful, high quality, rich habitat and replacing it with a lot of
low-grade habitat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In doing so we do two
things:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>first, we diminish the available
ecological niches and reduce diversity and second, we reduce the connectivity
between remnants of the ancient habitats and thus reduce its resilience to
insult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And insults come, either from
construction of the railway itself, or from natural events such as fire, flood,
drought, chemical incidents and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
HS2 to the North will pave over an area of countryside the
size of the City of Manchester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will
also open the way to construction on open countryside for housing and
businesses associated with the railway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ktj1qVKsDs/UQvglRXttbI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/9oEkkC9yxt8/s1600/winterbw-221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="174" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ktj1qVKsDs/UQvglRXttbI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/9oEkkC9yxt8/s320/winterbw-221.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HS2 will cross the Coventry Canal</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The fact is we cannot continue to consume the
countryside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what about the
economy?!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, what about it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The business case for HS2 is built on some
quite heroic assumptions – that new jobs will be created (other than in the
construction of the railway itself), that increased capacity is required, that
the railway is carbon friendly and sustainable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of these can and have been challenged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Public Accounts Committee has already
amber/red-flagged the project from the economic viability viewpoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact is that in other countries where
high speed rail has been built, some communities have been winners and some
losers, but the issue of whether jobs have actually been created, as opposed to
moved around is very unclear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
benefits of the railway have been valued to include knock-on jobs such as
catering, but the costs have not included knock-on losses of jobs which either
move (relocate towards the new stations), or are lost (if, for example, people
switch from flying and existing slower trains, with loss of jobs, catering and
so on, not to mention businesses destroyed by the line itself).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYaMJHq0sw-BGtRxp3cnMtD2FolGJ3okwfyTc7lRzoty2qyjXb8MEyGkL9va4eOWu41XAXIeo_iWLnSLuMakqN9-_JnYm5M18pbqH1H6yxqL5Q4m6twqW_bRHzGN1KE1aeoKO4VGjCj0/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYaMJHq0sw-BGtRxp3cnMtD2FolGJ3okwfyTc7lRzoty2qyjXb8MEyGkL9va4eOWu41XAXIeo_iWLnSLuMakqN9-_JnYm5M18pbqH1H6yxqL5Q4m6twqW_bRHzGN1KE1aeoKO4VGjCj0/s320/autumcoloursbuilding-113.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HS2 will pass behind this mound and through visitor centre</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Nowhere in the economic case is the opportunity cost
mentioned:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that is, the cost of what is
lost if you spend the money on HS2 as opposed to something else e.g. local
transport links and hubs, proper freight connectivity from East to West coasts,
schools, hospitals and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alternatives
to HS2 have been considered in terms of different types of transport links, but
no full opportunity cost appraisal has been carried out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And worst of all, nature and ancient woodlands are not
valued at all, other than at the value of the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet woodlands and forests can in themselves
benefit economy, wildlife and community in a sustainable way, and in a way that
rail links cannot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Land is valued just
at market value, not at its potential economic value, be that in farming,
business, sustainable forestry or from the ecosystem and services that it
provides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if the principle of
reducing everything to a monetary cost is uncomfortable, the fact is that
nature provides economic benefits of a huge amount already, and has the
potential to deliver a lot more.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3n38wigmW_u8sGD65dO0F_WLnZaV3ru_ZJdcne9aQ7Ral6hoGhGP-oETUU_vTHuSxa30W6TCx5zn8Ib_eU8ww4pFgahsHsvHJeAG9IECnC0C50_Y8hfmoyu9JgValxy5vIL209l8UIqs/s1600/AW-snowing-116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3n38wigmW_u8sGD65dO0F_WLnZaV3ru_ZJdcne9aQ7Ral6hoGhGP-oETUU_vTHuSxa30W6TCx5zn8Ib_eU8ww4pFgahsHsvHJeAG9IECnC0C50_Y8hfmoyu9JgValxy5vIL209l8UIqs/s320/AW-snowing-116.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alvecote Wood - ancient woodland habitat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The railway will not go through our woods or our house,
although it will pass close to the woods – indeed, our woods are one of the
closest ancient woodlands to the line apart from those through which it will
pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it will affect our wildlife.
Our landscape-scale conservation project is under threat as the railway cuts
through and potentially cuts off some of our partners, and makes it harder for
wildlife to move freely along the Anker Valley corridor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will compromise the very thing that we
have been urged to do by the Government in the Natural Environment White Paper,
underpinned by the Lawton Report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shy
wildlife is likely to retreat from the construction, perhaps never to return. Already-tenuous
connections will be severed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A local
Forest School base is now threatened, and children may lose the ability to
learn in a natural woodland environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Communities who have invested time, effort and money in the wildlife
parks on their doorstep will now lose out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And homes and communities will be blighted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this NIMBYism?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suppose you had struggled all your life to pay
for a house, or to build up a business in rented property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And suddenly you find your house cannot be
sold to pay for your long-term residential care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or your business will be bulldozed, leaving
you to move, and lose the goodwill and clientele you have built up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Farmers can’t move easily, be they tenants or
landowners, yet many face their land being cut through, buildings and
businesses on the site destroyed, and links between fields and farm buildings
severed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not NIMBYism, it is
about real suffering caused to real people, many of whom cannot get
compensation in the time-frame within which it is required – indeed, some can’t
get compensation at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is about
fairness – it is about making sure that advantage for some is not gained at the
expense of disadvantage to others. It is about fair treatment for communities and people wherever they happen to live.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But mostly it is about the destruction of wildlife and
habitats – habitats that are, by the Government’s own admission, valuable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Habitats that have been supported by public
money and community goodwill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Habitats
which have taken thousands of years to develop will be destroyed by drawing a
line on a map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is about selling the
crown jewels for a skipload of plastic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A few people will undoubtedly gain from HS2, but everybody will
lose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just how much longer can we go on
chipping away at the crown jewels of our countryside?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-57252108056181609082013-01-22T16:50:00.000+00:002013-01-22T16:50:24.660+00:00Who will fight for nature in future?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYdZlLXFcrlUVYGAsYMnZjOwZGhE2kRjV4nz6StYhzC3hMvNkTnxJ_XF-JcmYP9ayG-WeOvggZUAKrqLk7H5DQrnMVem40nLXWKUmdYx1o6_2omAPddKe1Z0kWnhIcUOLwbA9Y24yyyBY/s1600/AW-snowing-hr-101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYdZlLXFcrlUVYGAsYMnZjOwZGhE2kRjV4nz6StYhzC3hMvNkTnxJ_XF-JcmYP9ayG-WeOvggZUAKrqLk7H5DQrnMVem40nLXWKUmdYx1o6_2omAPddKe1Z0kWnhIcUOLwbA9Y24yyyBY/s320/AW-snowing-hr-101.jpg" width="213" /></a>The woods look fantastic in the snow - a world transformed by snow and ice into a fairyland of wonder. All around us are the signs of the struggle nature has at this time of year - the busy seed feeders, tracks in the snow, food caches being dug up and consumed, the occasional evidence of predation. It is a hard time of year.<br />
<br />
It is perhaps easier to appreciate an acute threat, such as snow and ice, than an insidious threat, but it is there, nonetheless. The renowned writer on management, Charles Handy, used a metaphor in his books about the boiling frog. If you put a frog into hot water it will jump out, but if you put it in cold water and heat it gradually, it will be boiled to death (I believe this is not true, but it is a good metaphor). Not a nice thing to happen to a frog, but the same thing is in danger of happening to our natural environment. We can appreciate, worry about, and try to solve an acute crisis, but we become habituated to the gradual loss and erosion of biodiversity and environment until we become aware it has gone, and gone for good.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPzN7vogbVBrF-d77WXOIZrYAkmiNK84-DimArsRO9YUkEXNFJZAC4LES-CVgBlLg9uP6v8i6g667gQduw2QiVFaV0WShxj5HwKPkO_rp58GiTKzT5zucj4zDfuycJkTb6RDnJYBNWXo/s1600/feeder-birds-snow-101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPzN7vogbVBrF-d77WXOIZrYAkmiNK84-DimArsRO9YUkEXNFJZAC4LES-CVgBlLg9uP6v8i6g667gQduw2QiVFaV0WShxj5HwKPkO_rp58GiTKzT5zucj4zDfuycJkTb6RDnJYBNWXo/s320/feeder-birds-snow-101.jpg" width="246" /></a>What are these threats? They are so common and ubiquitous that we don't even see or appreciate them happening. But they are there, and it all boils (pardon the pun) down to policy. And we have a lot of new policies kicking in at present. Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (including farm subsidies), the Natural Environment White Paper (failure to protect ancient woodland), the National Planning Policy Framework (failure to explicity protect anything other than species and habitats protected under European legislation). Then there is Biodiversity Offsetting - the idea that you can rip up habitat in one place, and replace it in another - the more valuable the habitat, the higher it scores, but you can replace a little high-scoring habitat with a lot of low-scoring less-valuable habitat. But nature doesn't work that way. There is the drive to industrialise agriculture, with the threat of mega-farms and mega-dairies, and the loss of hedgerows and habitats that this involves to provide fodder crops. Ownership of land is concentrated in ever-fewer hands, and subsidies frequently go not to those who farm and care for the land, but large landowners. Councils are selling off their farms - one of the few routes into farming for the non-wealthy. People are progressively distanced from the countryside, and the land, and farming, and forests - it is a place to visit, not a place to live, and breathe, and experience.<br />
<br />
Then there are pests and diseases, some imported (<i>Chalara fraxinea</i> for example) and some of our own. And there are the neonicotinoid pesticides that have devastated our pollinators, and that most other countries have banned, but not the UK. The Localism Bill has the potential for local people to say where they want development and of what type, but only if they are aware of what is going on, and are empowered to have a say. And they are not actually going to be allowed to say no - only to say what and where. There is a big difference.<br />
<br />
Finally, there is the threat from global warming and the dash to squeeze the last fossil fuels from the Earth at a time when we should be moving rapidly away from them - fracking, shale oil - widespread and large scale habitat destruction that damages the environment twice - once when extracting and again when the greenhouse gases are generated. <br />
<br />
So who is going to stand up for nature? Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission used to have the power to advise on policy - but are now restricted to commenting on how to implement it. So we don't have an official advocate for the environment, providing checks and balances to Government whims. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDvZULSU1yNXoJSj0LFtCz9-sgBGiZDj1ce4IF9l4hWAfMqHE-Jq-5V7psJKYwgT7UdbVvLkmwg8xNX63gvYcmfwk5G5qWe4sPFOb3yE8bU-afw7-2abbCd-zHhyphenhyphenmo-lFG5gIeRmvW3M/s1600/AW-snowing-116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDvZULSU1yNXoJSj0LFtCz9-sgBGiZDj1ce4IF9l4hWAfMqHE-Jq-5V7psJKYwgT7UdbVvLkmwg8xNX63gvYcmfwk5G5qWe4sPFOb3yE8bU-afw7-2abbCd-zHhyphenhyphenmo-lFG5gIeRmvW3M/s320/AW-snowing-116.jpg" width="320" /></a>But we still have the charities, right? Well...yes, but many of these charities are already working in partnership with Government and its agencies, and are coming to depend on them for money. They are responsible for managing public land and resources, and for taking over the running of initiatives, programmes and courses. So, the Ramblers and McMillan have taken over Natural England's Walking for Health. Fine - but these are charities with their own membership, and agenda, and are not independent bodies charged with protecting the environment. And even where involvement is not direct, charities make use of the Government subsidies and grants to which they are entitled as landowners. The imperative is not to rock the boat. How dependent have charities such as the Woodland Trust and Wildlife Trusts become? How willing would they be to stand up against harmful policy initiatives if, for example, it put their income at risk? Why was it that the policy to sell off the public forest estate nearly succeeded? Perhaps because some of the charities involved stood to gain financially? The Independent Forestry Panel was a result of campaigning not by the major bodies, but a widespread and fierce campaign from the public, headed up by a number of new campaigning groups such as <a href="http://saveourwoods.co.uk/" target="_blank">Save our Woods</a><br />
<br />
A report was launched today (1) that looked at the role of independence in the charitable sector. This was from the perspective of charities that provide services for disadvantaged populations, but the findings are completely applicable here, too. Independence is falling, and charities are unwilling to speak out when policies, or the way they are being implemented, produce harmful effects for those whom they serve or represent. Charities desperate for money will find it very tempting to sieze on any funds they can get - that is what makes policies like biodiversity offsetting so appealing, but so frightening too.<br />
<br />
Who IS going to fight for nature? Do people even know we have a fight on our hands? The level of knowledge is frighteningly poor, not just among those who set policy, but among the generations of people failed by the system that has distanced them from nature, failed to teach them about it, failed to immerse them in the experience, and failed to produce a new generation of advocates. Why are there so few angry young people now? Where are the protests? I see few, or none - nothing like the student protests of the 1960's and 70's, nothing like Woodstock, nothing like Greenham Common, the Vietnam War protests. There should have been millions of students protesting about tuition fees - not a few hundred thousand. There should be millions of people protesting against the policies that are threatening our environment, and with it, the future of this planet and of the human species. There are a few shining lights, but mostly people sit and take it.<br />
<br />
We are sitting in the pot and the heat is on. Who is going to speak up and protest? Who is going to jump out and sing before the water boils? Or will it just boil away, and we will wake up one morning to find it has all gone? <br />
<br />
(1) <a href="http://www.independencepanel.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Independence-Under-Threat_The-Voluntary-Sector-in-2013_WebVersion12.pdf" target="_blank">Independence Review</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-42302409578306306032013-01-15T15:37:00.000+00:002013-01-15T15:37:22.881+00:00Observations on Bird Feeders<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrtaSo33OnFgM_gn563jwaE0Wb-XA_GNK170KfG80cqQNVEzR50QAvDrNxYUkCxvgggZReqGPdCBpjgDgE9pNjMUwSj0xAMP9gfDyl2jmxnRFHksHwK-KiqYv4fXg1J_2NcslBQVi8gI/s1600/hidefeeder-106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrtaSo33OnFgM_gn563jwaE0Wb-XA_GNK170KfG80cqQNVEzR50QAvDrNxYUkCxvgggZReqGPdCBpjgDgE9pNjMUwSj0xAMP9gfDyl2jmxnRFHksHwK-KiqYv4fXg1J_2NcslBQVi8gI/s320/hidefeeder-106.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nuthatch</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It has been a bit of a birdy week at the woods this week, having completed a review of our nest boxes (all the hole-fronted ones were used last year, although one of the 26 had an incomplete nest), and got some new kit for photographing birds (a chair hide and gimbal head for my tripod). I set up my hide near the feeders, waiting to the birds to approach, and got to making a few observations about the behaviour of the birds on the feeders.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwTOKqZrBPupNpFsvAg0qQ8n6q43SuBleNshz5L-tDm3cAVwh1AbV-MoIPu-Cjjw_aVy016xK57boXE38mqxUYt63sMeOQEkAtj2H67abhPnkiI7zIX9WZ4EhyqNPUDU4zVCmSjbGLWUg/s1600/hidefeeder-119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwTOKqZrBPupNpFsvAg0qQ8n6q43SuBleNshz5L-tDm3cAVwh1AbV-MoIPu-Cjjw_aVy016xK57boXE38mqxUYt63sMeOQEkAtj2H67abhPnkiI7zIX9WZ4EhyqNPUDU4zVCmSjbGLWUg/s320/hidefeeder-119.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Tit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We have three feeders at the woods, all a short distance from the building (within 15 metres either side). They all have the same feed in - a wild bird seed mix which is the best that I can afford as they get through over 20kg a week. But despite the similarity of the feeders (all have the same perch design), and their contents, it is clear that some birds prefer one or other of the feeders. The great tits prefer the smaller feeder further from the building, near a clump of brambles in which they can perch; the blue tits perfer one of the larger feeders near an elder bush in which they can perch, and the nuthatches and great-spotted woodpeckers prefer the very large feeder which they can approach from the trunk of the adjacent tree. Pheasants, robins and chaffinches are happy to feed underneath any of the feeders.<br />
<br />
I also noticed that birds tend to come in waves to the feeders. There can pass minutes when there are no birds, and then there is a huge flurry of birds, fluttering their little wings, bickering about who has first dibs and generally making the area come alive with up to 20 birds all vying for a slot on the feeding perches. Then they disappear and it goes quiet, before it all starts up again. I wondered why that should be. The flurry seems to be a mix of species, rather than all one or another, and I figured it was probably a form of collective defence; safety in numbers, more birds around to sound the sparrowhawk alarm, and more birds to confuse the predator should it appear. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZo2putolEGVtq6GE6nV5ln9MFWN-vErrZev7k-7NiJO7c5oTFetazVlBCvRE7ypOZxqqF7_SeO4lQ79rqH3up7_zB6vCaXj8EvUg5gGuB-o6nPgKrWp1uSyZAnTZxCINK0yJjnDLJh7E/s1600/hidefeeder-110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZo2putolEGVtq6GE6nV5ln9MFWN-vErrZev7k-7NiJO7c5oTFetazVlBCvRE7ypOZxqqF7_SeO4lQ79rqH3up7_zB6vCaXj8EvUg5gGuB-o6nPgKrWp1uSyZAnTZxCINK0yJjnDLJh7E/s320/hidefeeder-110.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue Tit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The species also differ greatly in their competence on the feeder; blue tits, coal tits and great tits are pretty good at perching and grabbing seeds, as are nuthatches. Woodpeckers need a little bit of practice, but can manage pretty well. Robins and chaffinches often try but rarely succeed in working out how to perch on the little ring provided to get at the seed. It isn't a size thing - yellowhammer are hopeless at perching, reed bunting pretty good, both birds pretty much the same size, both in the bunting family, similar beaks - one good, the other useless! <br />
<br />
We are all familiar with the pecking-order that occurs within species; our chickens have a complicated but rather rigid pecking-order and wild birds seem to be the same. So, the larger, more dominant great-tits and blue-tits are easily able to see off their rivals, with the males usually seeing off the females at this time of year before pairing-off and looking for nests.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSFYyrNCJgPhyphenhyphen3usU6UXM_l_h4Oq2_JcNamqmlQsrRhiDlj_hDHtqWkElSqgtxN_mCD6o5J4cKgmXn3XlyOiJW38P2M_Vlvni3wugwLru0gusPAQWg1vpfTWLIJuugJhcl9bX9Vw-tpM/s1600/hidefeeder-121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSFYyrNCJgPhyphenhyphen3usU6UXM_l_h4Oq2_JcNamqmlQsrRhiDlj_hDHtqWkElSqgtxN_mCD6o5J4cKgmXn3XlyOiJW38P2M_Vlvni3wugwLru0gusPAQWg1vpfTWLIJuugJhcl9bX9Vw-tpM/s320/hidefeeder-121.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coal Tit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What is interesting, though, is that there seems to be a between-species pecking order too. When the nuthatch or great-spotted woodpecker is on the feeder, nobody else really wants to feed there, although they are waiting patiently in the wings. They are just too aggressive and probably a bit pecky with those sharp beaks - too much of a risk! But it doesn't always go with size. The blue-tits generally oust the great-tits despite being smaller, probably because the great-tits are a bit more timid. The robins, notoriously aggressive birds, don't seem to mind other birds being around them at all, and never seem to have a go at them, even though they are competing under the feeders with the chaffinches and pheasants for the fallen scraps. Chaffinches are even more timid relative to their size, flying off at the slightest provocation. But the outstanding winners of aggression-per-gram must go to the coal tits. They are so fast, so active on the feeder and so very tenacious with birds of all sizes when there is competition for a feeding hole. They dart in, grab a seed, and dash off to peck it on a perch, then back in again, taking on all-comers (although I haven't seen one take on a woodpecker yet...). <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsJaCKJVf3mwlY9XQk_wUKSorEPh7X4iaQZLeYHhcE54cQSxoufTjLA2EfqoEh54Dj5JNxa1leQe4DQP5a-8wgURV_mw22vb0RXHB47W0C3hppFGztRxN9MP6TlqJgsT4keO3o6ca6f4/s1600/hidefeeder-123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsJaCKJVf3mwlY9XQk_wUKSorEPh7X4iaQZLeYHhcE54cQSxoufTjLA2EfqoEh54Dj5JNxa1leQe4DQP5a-8wgURV_mw22vb0RXHB47W0C3hppFGztRxN9MP6TlqJgsT4keO3o6ca6f4/s320/hidefeeder-123.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Perhaps we get a little bit complacent at witnessing this common sight - little birds at a feeder. But I never tire of watching them. There is always something going on, always a collection of little noises, expressions and body language to watch. I never tire of watching the huge range of expressions that blue-tits seem to be able to summon-up. Feeding the birds is an opportunity to watch and learn about common species and the interaction between them. It is one of my favourite activities at the woods.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-61582145349792489212013-01-03T12:54:00.001+00:002013-01-03T12:54:25.036+00:00Changing the world a bit at a time<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqibh9dkPengGmpKFUiENpFPCntH74sChl0fxGHenWUsBuRCEx9sr2EfvqeuDNJxzNFZUlMq5y2qifGQXTzr1I5Iu5enL2-SUJVK_YEZvz6ubGsSq3vn9kLHi6wv6dwFJSAcp2wXvNjo/s1600/combinelandscapes-111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqibh9dkPengGmpKFUiENpFPCntH74sChl0fxGHenWUsBuRCEx9sr2EfvqeuDNJxzNFZUlMq5y2qifGQXTzr1I5Iu5enL2-SUJVK_YEZvz6ubGsSq3vn9kLHi6wv6dwFJSAcp2wXvNjo/s320/combinelandscapes-111.jpg" width="320" /></a>I’ve been reading a very good book called “So Shall We Reap”
by Colin Tudge (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/So-Shall-We-Reap-Worlds/dp/0141009500">http://www.amazon.co.uk/So-Shall-We-Reap-Worlds/dp/0141009500</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really is an excellent book, and everybody
needs to read it and think carefully about what he says.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a nutshell, he is saying that agriculture has lost its
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are to feed the large and
growing population of the planet, then we cannot do it by means of
industrialisation and globalisation of agriculture, but have to do it by a
modern agrarian economy in which food is grown carefully, by good husbandry, by
people who live on and know the land, who are able to grow food suitable to the
local cuisine, and who exercise good husbandry over the land and the livestock.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does this actually mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, it means that we have to improve
the yield of our land, and the best yield (as opposed to maximum profitability)
comes from mixed farming in which livestock, arable and horticulture are
carefully managed in rotation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second,
it means that science needs to be applied to improving yields rather than
improving profitability – this may go hand in hand, but often does not, since
the profit is often taken not by the farmer, but by either the wholesaler or
the biotech and agrichemicals companies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Third, it means that more people need to work in agriculture, so that
the principles of good husbandry can be applied, and animals, humans, crops and
people can live in harmony with nature, rather than by trying to control and
subdue it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But surely the largest cost for farmers (and foresters) is
labour?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What he says is this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we only need to produce food at ever-reducing
cost because the goal is not to maximise production of food, but to maximise
profit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we produce raw ingredients at
rock-bottom prices using industrialised methods of farming – these are then
bought by a small number of globalised food companies who dictate the price, “add
value” to them by processing them into ready meals, prepared vegetables or
whatever, and then sell them to the consumer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The consumer does not pay less for their food – often they pay more for
food of lower quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they bought
food locally directly from the producers, then they could produce food in a
much more environmentally-friendly way, take better care of their animals and
land, provide more employment for people who desperately need the work, and it
wouldn’t cost the consumer any more, although they would have to be prepared to
cook things from raw ingredients, just as humans have done for thousands of
years until ready meals took over in the last 40 or so years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must also be prepared to eat less meat –
meat is seen as a garnish and flavouring in many traditional cuisines, rather
than the centre of the meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to
return to seeing it that way, eating mainly vegetables, roots, pulses, tubers,
nuts, grains and seeds, with a little meat for flavour.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-d9rLl02mWezAM0Mgjf24P8FIo8QFCpIFZPY30SlH4iTUN3lSwtGqtp6kAGJVDEDawRgSIgoKY439GiKpx-5odyAy-aoiCt3-ctP1DOxinVI135k6ZZ-30czPrjNKs1h7ein2SPz_2yI/s1600/whiteglass-104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-d9rLl02mWezAM0Mgjf24P8FIo8QFCpIFZPY30SlH4iTUN3lSwtGqtp6kAGJVDEDawRgSIgoKY439GiKpx-5odyAy-aoiCt3-ctP1DOxinVI135k6ZZ-30czPrjNKs1h7ein2SPz_2yI/s320/whiteglass-104.jpg" width="320" /></a>So what does it mean for us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We already try to support good husbandry by buying local produce, and
making our own food from raw ingredients, cooking our own pizza, pasta, bread,
curries, and growing our own where we can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But we need to go further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So my
resolution for this year is this – we will seek out those local producers who
operate on sound principles of good husbandry and try and buy from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where we can’t do that, we will buy from
ethical stores, and if we have to buy from supermarkets, buy from those with a
good environmental record, and buy organic where possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will avoid buying fruits and vegetables
from the other side of the world out of season, and instead buy local, seasonal
produce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will involve more effort,
but I am prepared to make that effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
sure that at times I will fail – and end up buying something that isn’t
produced sustainably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the point is I’m
thinking more and more about it, and trying more and more to support local
production.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If everybody thought just a little bit about where their
food comes from, and how it is produced, and how the prices are manipulated so
that both consumer and farmer lose out, and the middlemen and big superstores
take all the profit, then this would seem a logical choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Politicians are not going to change the way
in which agriculture and the food business operate because there are far too
many vested interests at stake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only
way in which the world can change is if people start to think more carefully,
and buy only those products produced sustainably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Changing the world a bit at a time.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-16904305077267442062012-12-12T18:33:00.000+00:002012-12-12T18:33:06.156+00:00The World has Changed<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sAGXQaMwfWI/UMjNOr1m97I/AAAAAAAAAyg/j2nUzFFTvtA/s1600/firstpill-foggyday-101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sAGXQaMwfWI/UMjNOr1m97I/AAAAAAAAAyg/j2nUzFFTvtA/s320/firstpill-foggyday-101.jpg" width="235" /></a>This blog is a bit different - but please bear with me. Some of you know, and some of you don't know, that I have cystic fibrosis - an inherited condition that I was born with, diagnosed at age 10, and have lived with for 54 years of my life. For most of my life, by making a huge effort to keep fit and exercise almost every day (except when injured or ill), I have managed to keep symptoms to a minimum, and stay as well as I possibly can. Working at the woods has played a huge part in keeping me well.<br />
<br />
However over the last couple of years, things have been heading inexorably downwards, despite every effort I could make. This year, things have been much worse. I have struggled to breathe walking round the woods, and have found I have to stop a lot. I couldn't chase the butterflies that I love to photograph. I couldn't do as much of the work as I would have liked. I was struggling to talk while showing groups around. And at home, I had to have a rest after having a shower, and was breathless after getting dressed, or cleaning out the chickens. My life was becoming a lot more constricted, which, for somebody who loves to be outside in the woods doing things, and a lover of sport, was not a good thing. In reality, my life expectancy was down to a few years, with the prospect of being permanently tied to oxygen looming large, and beyond that, the trauma of considering a lung transplant, should I be eligible.<br />
<br />
This year, a new medication has been licensed. It treats a mutation that 5% of people with CF have - one of many thousands of mutations that occur in this condition. Amazingly, that is one of the mutations I have. What luck! Except, of course, that the medication is very expensive. There are relatively few people in the whole World who could benefit from it, but the costs of licensing and regulation to take it to market are the same whether 100 or 10,000,000 can take it. There is also the issue of producing a return on investment, and making a profit. These two, combined, have set the price extraordinarily high - about £15,000 a month.<br />
<br />
The medication works in a clever way. CF is a condition caused by an absent or malfunctioning chloride channel called CFTR that sits in the apex of cells lining the lungs and other organs, and actively transfers chloride ions from one side to the other. Along with the chloride goes water, and the absence of water in secretions causes the lungs to block up with sticky mucus that then gets infected with unusual and unpleasant organisms which cause inflammation, lung damage, and declining lung function. Treatment of these organisms is unpleasant, involving daily nebulisers, physiotherapy and periodic admission to hospital for intravenous antibiotics, which also have nasty side-effects - in my case, I'm also allergic to most of them. The new medication, called ivacaftor, opens the gate in this chloride channel, allowing it to function. It doesn't treat the symptoms, it treats the disease itself, turning a non-functioning protein into one that works normally. It effectively converts you from somebody with CF to somebody without CF, although still with the lung damage brought about by years of having CF. But this is a much better state of affairs.<br />
<br />
In trials, people have had average improvements in lung function (FEV1) of around 12-15% - this is enough for some people to come off oxygen, off the transplant list, start exercising again, and enjoying a full life.<br />
<br />
But the NHS in England still haven't reached a decision on whether to fund this drug. In the meantime, the drug company, Vertex, have instituted a free access programme for patients whose lung function is poor, allowing them to get the drug free for as long as it is needed. Your FEV1 had to be below 40% for six months - and mine wasn't. It was hovering around 40%, but after recent IV treatment it went up to 47%, just for a few weeks, so I felt I wasn't eligible and didn't want to ask for it, in case I was turned down.<br />
<br />
However Stephen decided otherwise, and asked for my case to be considered. On 26th November, I heard the amazing news that I could have this treatment, and I took my first pill on 29th November. And the effects have been amazing. The World has Changed.<br />
<br />
I noticed it on holiday - I was able to walk further, much faster, and up hills, all at the same speed as Stephen. We went fell walking. I went swimming and managed 40 lengths without difficulty. My chest feels clear and quiet, not constantly inflamed. My racking cough has disappeared. I have more energy. I am not always hungry. I can get showered and dressed without even thinking about it. I can even do a session of spinning on my indoor bike.<br />
<br />
I am often asked what it is like to have cystic fibrosis, and I answer that I don't know, because I don't know what it is like NOT to have cystic fibrosis, so I have nothing to compare it with. Well, now I do, and I have to say that I definitely prefer NOT to have cystic fibrosis! If this is what it feels like to be normal, then bring it on! The World has Changed for me, and I am extremely grateful. I have been given my life back.<br />
<br />
And the woods? Well, I hope that a rejuvenated me will be launching vigorously into the winter work very soon now, able to play my full part again in the management of the woods, all the activities that we do there, and enjoy being outdoor, and free, in a beautiful wild place again. Now that really is worth it!<br />
<br />
<i>We are expecting an announcement on whether ivacaftor will be funded for all patients with the G551D mutation on 18th December in England - decisions in Wales and Scotland will be later. I hope all patients will be able to benefit from this amazing, life-changing drug.</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-20266479439572130942012-11-13T11:45:00.002+00:002012-11-13T11:45:30.776+00:00Ash dieback and Alvecote Wood<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_5d_gj_bHhfFru26bfkSIXiSxpY_vZjPQkXeaj8lo88g1SR5qbX6mUmcqQRm1b2OJyJheDdUHoxTD7767A-3GqmZyQpOWKQ5V_bORYQTvz3-vEBuWiqpV6Lo19jW_IlXD0D-V-5A41Y/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_5d_gj_bHhfFru26bfkSIXiSxpY_vZjPQkXeaj8lo88g1SR5qbX6mUmcqQRm1b2OJyJheDdUHoxTD7767A-3GqmZyQpOWKQ5V_bORYQTvz3-vEBuWiqpV6Lo19jW_IlXD0D-V-5A41Y/s400/autumcoloursbuilding-116.jpg" width="400" /></a>An ironic twist, that ash dieback should rear its head in
the UK just as all trees are dying back for the winter, making it much harder
to detect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was with a heavy heart
that we realised that we, like all small woodland owners, were vulnerable to
this new disease which has made its way across the channel to the UK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Betty’s Wood is particularly vulnerable,
because we have planted a significant number of ash trees (about 10% of the
trees are ash), and because Chalara dieback affects young trees more severely,
and because the nursery from which we got them has had an outbreak of Chalara
this year (although, thankfully, none of the batches we bought from them were
affected).</div>
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We were extraordinarily careful with the provenance of our
trees:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not just UK provenance, but we
were careful to ensure that they were UK grown too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very easy to cast blame on people
planting trees for not checking the provenance, but it is also very easy to be
misled into thinking that trees come from the UK when they don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More needs to be done to ensure that the
provenance of each tree is clear, via a passporting system to ensure we know
where the seed came from and where it has been grown at each stage of
development.</div>
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It is also easy to blame politicians of all parties for
failing to take action:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the fact is that
blame will not solve the problem we have now, of dying ash trees, spreading
disease, and the prospect that ash trees will all but disappear from the UK
until trees that are resistant to the fungus emerge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am sure in hindsight, many people could and
would have acted differently – politicians may have taken action to ban imports
sooner, movement of ash trees around the country could have been stopped
sooner, the wider countryside could have been surveyed sooner, people planting
trees could have asked more questions about where they came from, and those
supplying trees could have been more open about where they came from too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of people made mistakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is not needed is a lot of mud-slinging
and blame-casting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead what we need
is a real, considered, careful plan so that this issue does not arise again
with another species of tree.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGq_qexH2eE2MJ0hs6Yb4Tse4uvlHli39Kij3jhBm6zf0xfJYHMOCfJlBdJ3dFBOZjjswN2ZOP6rpflk6U9DGFXhTszZG1CJsIBsndbP9QNAOvkXceaQFhYpnJP25OGZt1sFYtkYTQl0/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGq_qexH2eE2MJ0hs6Yb4Tse4uvlHli39Kij3jhBm6zf0xfJYHMOCfJlBdJ3dFBOZjjswN2ZOP6rpflk6U9DGFXhTszZG1CJsIBsndbP9QNAOvkXceaQFhYpnJP25OGZt1sFYtkYTQl0/s400/autumcoloursbuilding-115.jpg" width="400" /></a>This has led many to ask whether tree-planting is needed at
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can’t we leave it all to natural
regeneration?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many cases, yes, and
perhaps there will now be more support and grants for people who wish to allow
woodland to generate naturally, rather than plant, and also for those who wish
to collect and sow natural tree seed and allow it to grow <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in situ</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At present the
grant system is skewed towards planting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But there are clearly places where planting is needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like it or not, trees are a crop, and
planting will help to produce a crop that is in heavy demand for wood-fuel and
wood products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also a need to
improve habitat connectivity, and this cannot always wait for natural regeneration,
which may take decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there is
the need for landscaping along our infrastructure and in urban areas and
building developments – trees are good for health, and they won’t just happen
in many of these areas unless they are planted.</div>
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But there are messages from the crisis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, it is very important not to
plant huge stands of one species.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes,
we planted a lot of ash (and also have a lot of ash regenerating naturally
around the edge of Betty’s Wood), but we planted a whole range of species.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means Betty’s Wood will be resilient,
and should we lose the ash trees it will not be a disaster (except for
ash-specific species).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, it is
important not to go round destroying ALL ash trees in the vicinity of an
infected one – a few of those trees will show an innate level of resistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In countries affected by Chalara for a number
of years, some trees have survived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
need to look at the diversity of the trees, young and old, and work out why
they are surviving, and preserve those genetically resistant to the
fungus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We cannot do this if we kill all
the ash trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Third, we need to stop
cutting back the expertise we have in plant pathology, mycology, arboriculture
and tree disease research – cuts will not solve this problem, nor will
contracting out to the private sector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is an activity of national importance that needs public funding,
and needs to remain in the public sector, with support from the taxpayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The expertise is already at a critically low
level – it needs to be retained, nurtured and developed to address the issues
of future plant diseases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or we run the
risk of failing to learn from this crisis, and of the same thing happening
again, but to a different species of tree. </div>
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If 90% of our 700 or so ash trees die, then we will still
have 70 ash trees that do not die from which to repopulate our site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a good number of trees which will
show genetic diversity, and from which a resistant population can emerge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We just hope that Chalara dieback can keep
away until these little trees are old enough to produce seed, so we have a seed
bank in the ground.</div>
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At present there is no sign of Chalara in any of our little
trees, or in any of our few mature ash trees, but that may change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like it or
not, Chalara will spread on the wind, on the feet of birds, on the feet of
animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That cannot be changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chalara is a crisis, but also an opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An opportunity to get the resources that are
needed into plant research, changing nursery practices, dealing with biosecurity,
looking at ways to raise a diverse and resilient tree population.</div>
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In the end, most of our ash trees are likely to be
lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hope not all of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime, we will do our best to keep
them healthy, free from disease, growing and producing seed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The seed is the future.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-4554625232731705412012-11-13T11:42:00.000+00:002012-11-13T11:42:09.914+00:00Autumn in the Woods<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yqtsGa9Ps10/UKIw5OHhtKI/AAAAAAAAAx0/gT0Nt2X55Zs/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yqtsGa9Ps10/UKIw5OHhtKI/AAAAAAAAAx0/gT0Nt2X55Zs/s320/autumcoloursbuilding-131.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bNiuZW1OLTYIlxQDDiT9cHGsNxIQ536fqTXDb8V6URjIdj29r169xWWCOeySYCJuu-XM1wqbxrCNUaw3PePZlq_cAsqVuvYGu6MDxKNT1enc0zr5wPvl5EdIYrPGqTnMdragu72yejY/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bNiuZW1OLTYIlxQDDiT9cHGsNxIQ536fqTXDb8V6URjIdj29r169xWWCOeySYCJuu-XM1wqbxrCNUaw3PePZlq_cAsqVuvYGu6MDxKNT1enc0zr5wPvl5EdIYrPGqTnMdragu72yejY/s320/autumcoloursbuilding-106.jpg" width="213" /></a>At the risk of sounding repetitious, autumn is my favourite
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colourful in autumn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many years they
simply go from green to brown to fallen in a very short space of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this year, we have had some amazing
colours, enhanced by the fact that the young trees in Betty’s Wood are now head
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaKq4RyZWlJzGGUSHtCH4r7_NQ_TycX3GdVcMKD3WjLyek5AahOiuiUIQVrRX1zuOW8l913Jk5mmI-tNqfmSA4dkA9-rfwH-S0-_oGw8OaThNe9g1zSX_qgpHduPUanV0D_q4nl9qw_c/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaKq4RyZWlJzGGUSHtCH4r7_NQ_TycX3GdVcMKD3WjLyek5AahOiuiUIQVrRX1zuOW8l913Jk5mmI-tNqfmSA4dkA9-rfwH-S0-_oGw8OaThNe9g1zSX_qgpHduPUanV0D_q4nl9qw_c/s320/autumcoloursbuilding-110.jpg" width="320" /></a>It isn’t just the trees that enhance this time of year:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we have had a wonderful display of fungi, too
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wildflowers, skimming along at head height, chittering their happy little
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over Betty’s Wood, perching at the woodland edge. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbjCL_oo5KmAkGzYXWF0lLbx1kDfPDdTNDGH9iR4lfQIQWiOljW-z3aI8sf4JW7GTMhH4-oyNrlnrIQcVR0ELtEBz5FX15mybgYu_VkRxinPPuy-zJAsnee1u-Ek2nDtpp7-RYr1RrD5w/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbjCL_oo5KmAkGzYXWF0lLbx1kDfPDdTNDGH9iR4lfQIQWiOljW-z3aI8sf4JW7GTMhH4-oyNrlnrIQcVR0ELtEBz5FX15mybgYu_VkRxinPPuy-zJAsnee1u-Ek2nDtpp7-RYr1RrD5w/s320/autumcoloursbuilding-101.jpg" width="320" /></a>The squirrels are busy burying their caches of acorns and
seeds, and the jays are screeching as they too cache food for the winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mice and voles are everywhere, building
little nests in our spare boots that we leave at the woods for emergencies, as
well as under the bonnet of the tractor and in many other not-always-appropriate
places. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSaG2vtcf9wusaUv_IfqKjVtXBcogR9Bl-4Byl2Yes55tzpyDDBxmlqZt2RPNLVhKk0zXlLqo_WgKv7MB8Cbb6Q9L4a89SDlkECqY088Yota132QtuhsuF4304QE0enpOORTbC_nbQOw/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSaG2vtcf9wusaUv_IfqKjVtXBcogR9Bl-4Byl2Yes55tzpyDDBxmlqZt2RPNLVhKk0zXlLqo_WgKv7MB8Cbb6Q9L4a89SDlkECqY088Yota132QtuhsuF4304QE0enpOORTbC_nbQOw/s320/autumcoloursbuilding-122.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Our wood-drying shed is now finished, so we can dry our
firewood much more readily with the aim that we can sell bundles at our open
days next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are preparing to do a
bit more coppicing, and to do some thinning in our plantation area to let more
light into the woodland floor – our bit of harvesting, but harvesting that will
renew the trees and stimulate growth next year. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kHJ7MO0Lwp7kSpRkNVDhI4OtJcLqyKsvzHj3hD66iHuv-F1PV-07k3gHHcQPUnmdJH_J_Dk09ZQazdtFAKM0BQvdZddL2Okf4WIYiIkKlMWkOjOl74CF75c3W5bC4bi3_r8Y6LIrEnI/s1600/autumcoloursbuilding-138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kHJ7MO0Lwp7kSpRkNVDhI4OtJcLqyKsvzHj3hD66iHuv-F1PV-07k3gHHcQPUnmdJH_J_Dk09ZQazdtFAKM0BQvdZddL2Okf4WIYiIkKlMWkOjOl74CF75c3W5bC4bi3_r8Y6LIrEnI/s320/autumcoloursbuilding-138.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I love autumn because it is time of hope – things are dying
back, but we are storing things away for the winter to see us through the dark
days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things are dying but in amongst
all the death and decay are signs of renewal – seeds are sown, the leaf litter
provides a habitat, a home, material for nests, nutrients for the trees and
soil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nature is taking a breath after
the frantic activity of spring and summer, taking stock, marshalling its
resources to have another go next year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nature’s breath of beauty, wonder, colour,
harvesting, storing, renewal and hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love it!<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-2708983133797387632012-10-23T17:37:00.000+01:002012-10-23T17:37:29.972+01:00Natural Balance<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqazjtZ-mPB8ChdS43N2uSoa9XHS0wNFW_iWVV3feP9e02ZBYjvPl3hbXTS0O2wBz5nvKeHVYTlRxSIO6ed-U3fWh_mnGPU9BQ_sS9gFYPhKYdbZKnF82rV2iYWmOP2r8W6wNwKeMUuO0/s1600/fungusforay-110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqazjtZ-mPB8ChdS43N2uSoa9XHS0wNFW_iWVV3feP9e02ZBYjvPl3hbXTS0O2wBz5nvKeHVYTlRxSIO6ed-U3fWh_mnGPU9BQ_sS9gFYPhKYdbZKnF82rV2iYWmOP2r8W6wNwKeMUuO0/s320/fungusforay-110.jpg" width="320" /></a>It struck me last night, as I was watching the new BBC
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tenuous final relic of an evolutionary grouping that has all-but died out, or,
in the case of the Neanderthals, been incorporated into our North European DNA.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What I found disturbing about this was that the assumption
is that we are better, and will adapt better and survive because we are
cleverer than those hominids that died out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But are we?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How do we interact with our environment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we use our intelligence to learn about
what is out there, study it, listen to it, value our time in the environment
and what the environment gives to us, nurture the environment, preserve its
resources, work with it so that every species can prosper?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or do we seek to modify, dominate, apply
technological fixes, eliminate those things that don’t suit us, marginalise species
to the ever-diminishing bits of the planet that people don’t want to exploit? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are many, many people out there who would like to live
in the former way – in harmony, in natural balance with the environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there seem to be many more who want to
exploit and control it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYpHcnvO7R-5IoMq4UYYHfF5Cw8P6K2lVlC6pjC5JoYXxqT88Xzin2pPpwoXs92v_7Fq4clxZ3TkPacESdtSbeSOSgixRAnraA36e-D6Wm017g6dPhV9KNgTOfgdY-oujxlcO2zKv0Q0/s1600/ripewheatfield-105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYpHcnvO7R-5IoMq4UYYHfF5Cw8P6K2lVlC6pjC5JoYXxqT88Xzin2pPpwoXs92v_7Fq4clxZ3TkPacESdtSbeSOSgixRAnraA36e-D6Wm017g6dPhV9KNgTOfgdY-oujxlcO2zKv0Q0/s320/ripewheatfield-105.jpg" width="320" /></a>Agriculture used to be about working with the land – using the
right bits of land to grow the right bits of food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now global markets determine what is grown
where for maximum profit, regardless of whether the land is suitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we modify, drain, irrigate, apply
chemicals, cut down trees, clear scrub, create terraces, canalise rivers,
remove hedgerows and wildflower margins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In doing so we upset the natural balance created over millions of
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our interventions in turn upset
the ecosystems, and lead to certain species that are tolerant of our activities
dominating – only to be condemned as pests and attacked again with chemicals,
with culling, with shooting, poisoning, trapping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There seems to be a great deal of thought and technology
applied to the mechanics of agriculture and environmental management, but not a
great deal of strategic intelligence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
does not take a great deal of intelligence to realise that if we upset the
natural balance too much, we will suddenly find ourselves in a crisis of our
own making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were never given “dominion
over all the creatures on the Earth”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
are just another one of them – a perilous relic of a group of species, all of
which, apart from us, have failed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
absolutely rely on the natural balance for the production of our food, for
materials for our housing, for our energy, for our medicines, and for our
lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGgwPZH8WzZdkXaFUoeTW4TwC6DYkOU2W5Nh4mMsGsAArYvDCkRhh1tOhFW7Anu1pS2icQ8HxhyTVvWohHWK7vgf-bKrhp9q2IjLRFzFQFBoKVsZrmycoyE3ISR5ea6DqTbhnT2DxycSQ/s1600/eveningmeadows-104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGgwPZH8WzZdkXaFUoeTW4TwC6DYkOU2W5Nh4mMsGsAArYvDCkRhh1tOhFW7Anu1pS2icQ8HxhyTVvWohHWK7vgf-bKrhp9q2IjLRFzFQFBoKVsZrmycoyE3ISR5ea6DqTbhnT2DxycSQ/s320/eveningmeadows-104.jpg" width="320" /></a>Humans seem to think that we can simply force the world to
our will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We cannot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sooner or later the natural balance will tip
against us, and none of our intelligence or technology will be able to cope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are the last of the hominids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have to wake up and think about what this
means and how we can get back into balance with nature.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the woods, we try to keep things in balance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not easy, and we have made
mistakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if you respect the cycles
of life, and seek to help them achieve balance, rather than constantly throwing
them into disarray, it is remarkable what a difference you can make to the
wildlife, and the richness of the environment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most people love the countryside, and enjoy being there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very few see the complexity of what is around
them, and even fewer understand the key processes that go into making it the
wonderful place it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Homo sapiens</i> is to avoid the fate of
other hominds, then we have to re-acquire this understanding quickly, and learn
that if we work with nature, it will help us many times over, but if we try and
fight it, the battle is already lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ecological processes are beautiful – few human interventions are, and
they are mostly those interventions that work closely with nature – windmills,
solar panels, water-wheels.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJk43s6ms6waVHmLz1eQU4altNmH1hA2z7KWSs8h9Ji0qZ6AK-46NTkw3zOW7PHf1Lo_7D6xVQjAo-dZ5ypNVbhGn5Jt-F5T41MTQOSb8wyhQFXhqsOmtMk5Xxr9GWUldQQJDlftsjAo/s1600/landscapes-102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJk43s6ms6waVHmLz1eQU4altNmH1hA2z7KWSs8h9Ji0qZ6AK-46NTkw3zOW7PHf1Lo_7D6xVQjAo-dZ5ypNVbhGn5Jt-F5T41MTQOSb8wyhQFXhqsOmtMk5Xxr9GWUldQQJDlftsjAo/s320/landscapes-102.jpg" width="320" /></a>So here is a message for those in charge:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>stop destroying the countryside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop shooting things that happen to be in the
“wrong” place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop spraying “weeds” but
start encouraging wild flowers that in turn will bring beneficial insects that
themselves control the “pests” that we encourage by our hundred-acre
monoculture crops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Start managing
forests and woodlands sustainably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop
building on valuable habitat just because the land is cheaper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop tidying up the countryside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put the hedgerows back and sell the huge
machinery – go to a smaller scale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look
at the principles of permaculture, and learn to make the land a great place for
every creature, including humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop
seeing nature as something that is OK provided it doesn’t cause any
inconvenience for anybody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop denying
the human contribution to global warming and start doing something about it,
rather than paying lip-service and carrying on as before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop pandering to globalised vested
interests, corporate greed, corruption and cover-ups, and start being open and
honest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Value every living thing,
including humans who don’t come from the same country, background, religion or
point of view as yourself. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or lose the natural balance, and lose out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other creatures will come along and take our
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not God’s anointed and never were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are just another endangered species, the
difference being that we are endangering ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must acknowledge this quickly, and do
something about it, before it is too late.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-8660250857901085522012-10-09T12:13:00.001+01:002012-10-09T12:13:03.887+01:00The right tree in the right place by the right method<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6WEAMt0jfRLOEvcyw_AsJ-LK5elDn1Xo8DS1Rq3R66aWX-536K_dNj5vSuomJcXCecYvbhqgDWRwp-41LdGc3gywtOlEkvdG2E5vHYney3QJZc-BnU6RjiCL4qv0GJmseoszZNZVtsU/s720/TPbenn-100.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6WEAMt0jfRLOEvcyw_AsJ-LK5elDn1Xo8DS1Rq3R66aWX-536K_dNj5vSuomJcXCecYvbhqgDWRwp-41LdGc3gywtOlEkvdG2E5vHYney3QJZc-BnU6RjiCL4qv0GJmseoszZNZVtsU/s500/TPbenn-100.jpg" id="blogsy-1349781153043.1628" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="750"></a></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There seems to be a perpetual tension between trees and other habitats, and within the tree category between planting and natural regeneration, sometimes with very entrenched and strongly-held views, particularly now the Independent Forestry Panel has weighed in with its support for increasing tree cover in England.</span><br/><br/><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
So how do we decide what is the right tree and what is the right place?<br>
<br>
First of all, we could let the trees decide. That is what natural regeneration is, right? Well, I'm not so sure that is always the case. Many trees are pioneer species that will rapidly colonise other habitats. Indeed, many of these habitats are only as they are because one way or another the growth of trees is controlled: by agriculture, grazing, burning, climate or some other activity. It is wonderful to watch a habitat being re-colonised. Across the canal from us is a former spoil heap that has recolonized within my lifetime with woodland, mainly birch, oak and willow. Within our own wood, there are areas recolonising naturally too.<br>
<br>
But there are also areas, such as heathland, which are valuable and declining habitats in their own right. The growth of trees there would endanger the habitat, and in many places, even in areas such as the New Forest, these trees need to be controlled to preserve precious habitat.<br>
<br>
So, if we don't let the trees decide, should we plant instead? There is a lot going for planting. You get quick results. The woodland becomes economically viable in a short time. You can connect fragmented habitat quickly. There are lots of grants and incentives to plant. You can engage the community in planting very easily. Young trees grow rapidly and fix a lot of carbon.<br>
<br>
The problem is that there are also arguments against planting. The trees are likely to be all the same age, and it will take a long time for a diverse woodland to emerge. You may introduce disease, alien species, or cultivars that don't thrive locally. Planted trees need a lot of maintenance, at least in the first few years. Planted trees don't often come with associated mycorrhiza that are needed for healthy growth. Planted woodland tends to be less ecologically rich than naturally regenerated woodland. Planting may suppress natural regrowth and skew the balance of species locally.<br>
<br>
Even on ground where woodland is wanted, and appropriate, regeneration is slow, and doesn't come with appropriate subsidies, and it can also be taken over by invasive non native trees such as sycamore, and threaten other local woodlands.<br>
<br>
So how do we achieve the right tree in the right place and who decides? I am sure our own decisions have been flawed, but were made in good faith, and sometimes because of financial constraints and incentives.<br>
<br>
We have done our best to stimulate natural regeneration that was lacking in our own woods by bramble clearance, protection of saplings, introduction of light and so on. It seems to be working in some places and not in others.<br>
<br>
We have also planted some areas to provide more diverse understory. Why? If we don't do this, the elder growing on site because it is too fertile due to years of animal grazing simply takes over and we have had to resort to planting with species already on site to suppress this and allow the woodland to regain the diversity it has lost. How do we know it has lost diversity? Mainly because of the ancient hedge around the edge, and the diversity still present in the areas where animals were excluded.<br>
<br>
Was this right? I don't know. Some of it used our own seedlings, some didn't. All I can say was it was done with thought, knowledge of the microclimate and soil, and careful weighing up of pros and cons.<br>
<br>
Then there is Betty's Wood. Appropriate for trees? Well few would say no. It was on poorly productive wet farmland, and connects two pieces of ancient woodland fragmented for years but clearly connected in the past.<br>
<br>
The ideal solution would be natural regeneration. Except that the ground has been seriously disturbed and over fertilised with chemicals to maximise yield. Natural regeneration would be anything but natural. But planting is unnatural too.<br>
<br>
What we have done is some of each. We have planted the centre section, and left the edge, where there are already trees to provide seed, to regenerate. In practice this seems to be appropriate in that there aree hardly any natural saplings growing outside this regen area. The centre section we planted with wildflower meadow and then planted into it, mindful of the soil, microclimate and the species already growing in the area. We planted in natural curvy lines to allow access for maintenance in early years and left large meadows, thickets, clumps and other features. Planting density varied, so some was spread out and the rest closer, to provide maximum variety.<br>
<br>
It is no ideal. Many would say right place, possibly right trees, but wrong method. But the long and short is we wouldn't get the money for natural regeneration alone. Herein lies the problem. I think in our case, planting was the best method, although others will no doubt disagree. But in many places it isn't. But if we are to persuade people to allow tree cover to expand on their land, if it is right to do so, then we need to offer finance for this, or all the new woodland will be planted. At least we were allowed to regenerate over 16 thousand square metres of land and still get the money provided we met the density target over the whole site.<br>
<br>
I don't know if we have achieved the right trees in the right place by the right method. But I do think there needs to be much more flexibility over how expanded tree cover is achieved and in particular the method by which it is achieved. There also needs to be a great deal of thought put into identifying appropriate land for trees, so that neither productive agricultural land, nor precious alternative habitats are harmed.<br>
<br>
Much will depend on the system put in place to achieve this. However given the target-driven nature of governments, planting is likely to get the nod. That is likely to create a lot of woodland very quickly, it of what quality? Do we really want lots of even-aged plantations? Will these really be well managed to encourage emergence of diverse ages and habitats? Will they be put in the right place or just the cheapest place? I have no idea. I just hope that people do put a bit of thought into what they are doing, and why.</span> <br/><br/><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-43082697725046334802012-10-02T11:27:00.000+01:002012-10-02T11:27:05.849+01:00Fossil Fuel or Not? - Not a simple choice.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4Np6NNxLgZCOB0CMC41mRCKDvPvrclBg2uzZo-m6k7KKZtCLTM0CyYVuYP2OTGzJiL77pRAiNUwGfrvUUZGvPAWtJFdRjPAaVsnqPM3Li6Ie255Ff9T1Neiw6Wo7-Z-d4d43UkKrBu4/s1600/Copy+of+macrocourse-108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4Np6NNxLgZCOB0CMC41mRCKDvPvrclBg2uzZo-m6k7KKZtCLTM0CyYVuYP2OTGzJiL77pRAiNUwGfrvUUZGvPAWtJFdRjPAaVsnqPM3Li6Ie255Ff9T1Neiw6Wo7-Z-d4d43UkKrBu4/s320/Copy+of+macrocourse-108.jpg" width="250" /></a>Should we use it or not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I mean, we are supposed to be an eco place, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we should do everything by hand, so we
don’t use fossil fuel, and thereby end up making a bigger impact on CO2
reduction, global warming and all that?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Well, if you look at the numbers, it isn’t that simple.</div>
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First of all, let us look at wood for heating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We cut our own wood, every year, using a
petrol-powered chainsaw or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, if
we didn’t do that, and cut the trees down with a hand-saw and cut them up with
a hand-saw, would we use less CO2?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This probably takes about 6 UK gallons of two-stroke petrol,
each about 5 litres, and each litre uses about 10kwh of fossil-fuel
energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a total of 10x5x6 or
300kwh of energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the course of the
year, this saves us approximately 35% of our gas bill, which is about 100kwh
per month, or about 12,000kwh per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We save just over 1/3 of this, so about 5,000kwh per year by using wood
fuel in our fire (which only heats the house, not the garage/workshop, at present).
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But supposing we had to cut trees down and cut them up by
hand?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, we are busy people, and have
a day job as well as the woods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I am
not in the best of health, something which is not my fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if we did this by hand, we’d probably only
have about half the amount of wood available, and so could only save about ½ as
much, or 2500kwh per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would
reduce our fossil fuel use in petrol for the chainsaw by 300kwh, but increase
our gas use by 2500kwh (and we keep the house pretty cold, have it properly
insulated etc etc).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we aren’t really
saving anything if we do it this way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sure, if we only worked the land, and had all the time in the World to
coppice trees, then it would be a different story.</div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghwaIccuYMU7KUiZ8ual4-Ca5auiRDXbQp8Efoqxsi6aWeR2AwS3j7G9agNu8NIuXht7jWrtqdQlFBt6hBPoEYvMDZQaAauXIDWc4isVy3SITZeanPSFGpEfo_1l1yYVOnB3Vy_bt7UhA/s1600/peacocknettles-112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghwaIccuYMU7KUiZ8ual4-Ca5auiRDXbQp8Efoqxsi6aWeR2AwS3j7G9agNu8NIuXht7jWrtqdQlFBt6hBPoEYvMDZQaAauXIDWc4isVy3SITZeanPSFGpEfo_1l1yYVOnB3Vy_bt7UhA/s1600/peacocknettles-112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghwaIccuYMU7KUiZ8ual4-Ca5auiRDXbQp8Efoqxsi6aWeR2AwS3j7G9agNu8NIuXht7jWrtqdQlFBt6hBPoEYvMDZQaAauXIDWc4isVy3SITZeanPSFGpEfo_1l1yYVOnB3Vy_bt7UhA/s320/peacocknettles-112.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
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So we think the use of petrol chainsaws produces a net
reduction in our CO2 consumption and a net gain in our use of sustainable
energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a compromise that in an
ideal world we wouldn’t have to make, but we make it, and it works for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Likewise, we use a tractor in the woods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fossil fuel again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But look what we get for that fuel!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can clear dense bramble overgrowth and
make new areas for establishing coppice and new habitat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can mow our meadows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can clear the wild flowers away from our
newly-planted little trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can move
logs for habitat and fuel that would otherwise be beyond our capability.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, suppose we didn’t do this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We already tried coping with managing our
woods by hand, using either a small petrol strimmer, or a scythe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was fine in winter, until Spring happened,
then we had no chance at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
only 2 of us and 20 acres, and, as I said above, we have a day job (that funds
the woods), and I am poorly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20 acres is
approximately 7 hectares, which, if our woods were average for the UK, would
fix 35 tonnes of CO2 every year at a rate of about 5 tonnes per ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the Forestry Commission, this is
about 2kg per average tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we
didn’t do this, the loss rate among our saplings would be much higher, because
inevitably, we would not be able to clear the undergrowth around all of
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those that survive would grow
much slower due to competition from the herb layer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is realistic to assume that without assistance, the annual
loss in our newly-planted woodland would be roughly 30% (with assistance it is
down to 5%).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So an increased loss of
25%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a modest estimate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would equate to about ¼ of 3.5hectares
of area loss, so about 0.9ha – or 5 tonnes of CO2.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The tractor uses approximately 200 litres of fuel, at about
10kwh per litre, so 20,000kwh in a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is approximately 0.5kg CO2 per kwh, or about 10 tonnes CO2 per
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the face of it, more than we
gain by not allowing the trees to die.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTmfxwaTTYh5H3SYTvVS1O-zH3HtTxsoSK7R5nPVceCcnm-mQbwnRmSF9iR7tyt7zBRiFF0mPnrlFgJ-3ceBDyXvrEmBIz_bkG0ck1gOfkmzGEFhoahYA46pC-ilq4jQnQ5TnMj4gbMk/s1600/apfshow-121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTmfxwaTTYh5H3SYTvVS1O-zH3HtTxsoSK7R5nPVceCcnm-mQbwnRmSF9iR7tyt7zBRiFF0mPnrlFgJ-3ceBDyXvrEmBIz_bkG0ck1gOfkmzGEFhoahYA46pC-ilq4jQnQ5TnMj4gbMk/s320/apfshow-121.jpg" width="286" /></a>But it isn’t that simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dead trees break down and release CO2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And it doesn’t take into account poor growth in other trees that don’t
die, but also don’t grow well, and don’t fix much CO2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it takes no account of the benefits in
terms of our meadows, or our habitat, or anything else that we do to improve
the site for wildlife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also doesn’t
take into account that this would be a compound loss i.e. 35% per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is likely to account for at least as
much CO2 again, annualised over a 5 year period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are likely to be at least carbon neutral,
but with a much better outcome for the habitat, which would stay in its sorry
state without our help to restore it to a much more natural habitat, and remove
the impact of many years of animal grazing and other husbandry that has an
adverse impact on the woodland structure.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
AND it doesn’t take into account the CO2 fixed by our
existing ancient woodland, which, at another 3.5ha, will more than offset the
difference – some is slow-growing old wood, but some is coppice and
newly-planted coppice, so we would expect it to be around the average 5 tonnes
CO2 fixed per ha, or another 17,500 tonnes CO2.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So we are responsible for a net reduction in CO2, even
though we use a high-consuming tractor for some of our work. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are other benefits too. We couldn’t have visitors if
we don’t create and maintain paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why
not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m happy to walk off paths, and
scramble through the woods, but the fact is, that if we don’t provide paths,
most people won’t come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disabled people
can’t come without good paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we
can’t satisfy the requirements of insurance and risk assessment for public
use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Allowing people to come to our
woods is important to us, and it is important for people to see ancient
woodland, and learn about it – and we are one of the few ancient woodlands
available locally.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In an ideal world we could get this done without using
carbon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the fact is, we can’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we left things alone, the woods would
deteriorate further, and we would lose habitat, and species, and diversity from
an area in which these are incredibly valuable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t use more than we need to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We use quite a minimum intervention approach
in our woods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do a lot of things by
hand too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not shy of hard work –
coppicing is VERY hard work, even using a chainsaw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And one day we may have tractors, Land Rovers
and chainsaws powered by sustainable electricity – we can but hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the moment, we just have to make
compromises to get things done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
without thinking about it, but the numbers still add up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-16360768395198255952012-09-21T17:26:00.000+01:002012-09-21T17:26:00.993+01:00Respect<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i1_rnavw-z4/UFyT2vz3k4I/AAAAAAAAAuw/5zFhRUNoO-A/s1600/4bw-badger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i1_rnavw-z4/UFyT2vz3k4I/AAAAAAAAAuw/5zFhRUNoO-A/s320/4bw-badger.jpg" width="320" /></a>There has been lots in the news recently and most of it
boils down to one thing – respect, or rather lack of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lack of respect between people from
different countries, of different religions (or even branches of the same
religion), between those from different social background, between those with
lots of money and those with none and between women and men, young and old. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People are all different, and all have different
opinions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What differs, however, is how
we react to opinions that differ from ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There seems to be an ever-increasing need for some to impose their
opinions on others, regardless of the impact those decisions may have.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now it is obvious that we need laws to protect people, and
some of these laws may be unpopular with a proportion of people – but if they
are enacted by a democratically-elected government, and applied fairly, and don’t
result in systematic discrimination, then that is a reasonable way of making
sure that society can function.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But what many countries seem to have in place now is an
agenda that is devoid of respect – for people, and even more so for our natural
heritage and environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laws and
regulations are enacted by one group of people, that apply to another group,
and which are a long way from how the legislators would like to be treated were
their situations reversed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As such, they
constitute an abuse of power – they are not fair laws, not applied fairly, and
designed to discriminate and humiliate, rather than for protection or fairness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKuYsBEoLkmA8z7cbClrDhvIfPdVkUi9XrRIVA6gCKa15J0rA8Cs6jhPgIpkhl8PXPu03I52AVk-UmEctJRVx8qPHZfqy7gtJ5jVTiEwEoySnT6hyyqq_CFgHQOdLX3x7TRGZPaBqOQeI/s1600/scrotecam2-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKuYsBEoLkmA8z7cbClrDhvIfPdVkUi9XrRIVA6gCKa15J0rA8Cs6jhPgIpkhl8PXPu03I52AVk-UmEctJRVx8qPHZfqy7gtJ5jVTiEwEoySnT6hyyqq_CFgHQOdLX3x7TRGZPaBqOQeI/s320/scrotecam2-5.jpg" width="270" /></a>I always felt that you should treat others as you would wish
to be treated yourself – “Love thy neighbour as thyself” is a philosophy of
tolerance, justice and fairness that it would be good to see applied
unconditionally, but which rarely is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That doesn’t mean you always have to agree with other people, but you
should not dish out to other people treatment that you would not expect to
receive yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also feel you should
be tolerant and respectful of those different from yourself, or with differing
views, provided those people do not seek to harm others as a consequence of
those views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To quote the Wiccan Rede “..an
it harm none, do as ye will” – very difficult to live by, but a good template
for living a life of and tolerance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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But it seems we can’t do this – not even for other
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So how much less can we show
respect and tolerance for the species with which we share this beautiful
planet, and upon which we ultimately depend?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Badgers and cattle TB are a case in point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of people with strongly-held and
often-conflicting views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact is
that 10 years ago we didn’t know what the role of badgers in spread of TB was,
and more importantly, whether culling them would reduce bovine TB.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strongly-held opinions could not be resolved,
so a proper trial was carried out, which would answer the question as to
whether a cull in the worst-affected areas could help reduce the spread of
bovine TB.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer was clear – a small
reduction (16%) within the cull zone, with an increase outside it, as
terrified, infected badgers fled to new territories, spreading the
disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even using a rigorous method of
trapping and humane culling, the results were equivocal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The covering letter for the report stated:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">while badgers are clearly a source of cattle
TB, careful evaluation of our own and others’ data indicates that badger
culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain.
Indeed, some policies under</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">consideration are likely to make matters worse rather than better.
Second, weaknesses in cattle testing regimes mean that cattle themselves
contribute significantly to the persistence and spread of disease in all areas
where TB occurs, and in some parts of Britain are likely to be the main source
of infection. Scientific findings indicate that the rising incidence of disease
can be reversed, and geographical spread contained, by the rigid application of cattle-based control measures alone.” (</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/tb/isg/report/final_report.pdf">http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/tb/isg/report/final_report.pdf</a>)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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So what did the Government decide to do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ignore the facts and decide cull thousands of
badgers, a protected species <i>while claiming they were acting on scientific evidence</i>. But the scientists disagree, and their advice disagrees - this is deceitful.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In being deceitful, they show a lack of respect to the scientists
who laboured long and hard to produce this report, and whose expert opinion
they ignored, as well as for nature as a whole, the many members of the public
and animal welfare organisations who are aghast at the prospect of slaughter
and most of all to farmers, who need a solution to the problem instead of
having to fork out money for something that has been shown to be ineffective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they have been left with no choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A species is to be wiped out in large areas
of the country, using money that could instead have been used to develop a
proper vaccine, and invested in research on ways to allow badgers and cattle to
co-exist without threatening their mutual health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nature takes second places to votes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Protection of nature is OK <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so long
as it doesn’t get in the way</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<br />
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Lack of respect for nature seeps into every aspect of our
lives:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>into planning regulations,
business, the forestry sell-off debacle, the failure to act on neo-nicotinoid pesticides
threatening our bees…the list goes on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Much of it is born from ignorance, but much from greed, from a lack of
wishing to treat our fellow creatures with respect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And very short-sighted too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">part
of nature</i> not above it, or isolated from it, not even if we clad ourselves
in designer clothes, equip ourselves with the latest mobile phone, and drive
around in the most prestigious car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6c26_Y29H2Nc_xJjLPxdNxcUsss3VvBb2DQHakGyKiMDLmUOpsyGxT58ljNzyodqWpoq648VAfiEjvJ1XSjKXXirIPV-oou114ev8m2dJCU_a7yLqdu-A96XREeLJNrkmBekWrGfEVrg/s1600/PICT0035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6c26_Y29H2Nc_xJjLPxdNxcUsss3VvBb2DQHakGyKiMDLmUOpsyGxT58ljNzyodqWpoq648VAfiEjvJ1XSjKXXirIPV-oou114ev8m2dJCU_a7yLqdu-A96XREeLJNrkmBekWrGfEVrg/s320/PICT0035.JPG" width="320" /></a>The badger culling regulations are not fair because they don’t
show respect:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they are unilateral,
harmful (even those supporting the cull will agree they are harming relations
within and between communities), have ignored the best advice available, and
are ignoring very sound options for which funding has been withdrawn to pay for
the cull.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lack of respect is not limited
to one particular group in society, one creed, one level of the social strata,
or one set of vested interests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
seen examples recently from many walks of life:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hillsborough, the phone hacking scandal, very damaging welfare reforms
for sick and disabled people, as well as those who claim benefits to which they
are not entitled, criminal gangs who terrorise neighbourhoods, and who steal
from and intimidate others, the paparazzi who stalk people and make their lives
a misery – but the consequences of that lack of respect can be devastating when
it becomes a fundamental element of those who have the power to institutionalise
that lack of respect.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We respect the farmers and strongly support their desire for a solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If need be, we will pay for our local badgers to be vaccinated, because
while we don’t wish to see them culled, we also want to help in any way we can
to reduce the risk that they form a reservoir of infection for local
livestock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact is, that it is
possible to respect nature, and live with it, and preserve and improve it for
our children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because if we don’t, the
consequences will be catastrophic.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-89340582428543767222012-08-28T18:00:00.002+01:002012-08-28T18:00:23.710+01:00Dream come true...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjle6nQdqO-H1JGhoM1E_ajsocHZlFJNzudKnEimYkabsNzI11S5q0d7sV7NN4-GQC26nSO8SDwrvnKBvJ_oFeBFU-LSi8J5tdHf6hufSnAh9m3n4DIyOoIjAV3W3l9E2OUEsWTbRmZRu0/s1600/exhibition11-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjle6nQdqO-H1JGhoM1E_ajsocHZlFJNzudKnEimYkabsNzI11S5q0d7sV7NN4-GQC26nSO8SDwrvnKBvJ_oFeBFU-LSi8J5tdHf6hufSnAh9m3n4DIyOoIjAV3W3l9E2OUEsWTbRmZRu0/s320/exhibition11-100.jpg" width="320" /></a>The woods are beautiful. There really is no way of improving on nature. But despite knowing this, I have had a frustrated urge to try and do just that over the last few years. In early 2010, I started studying a professional photography course, and have set many of the images for my assignments in or around the woods. It struck me that it would be wonderful if I could actually hold an ehxibition at the woods. Pictures of the woods set in the woods where they were taken.<br />
<br />
This weekend, my dream came true. My final assignment was to hold an exhibition. For the last year I have been taking pictures with this aim in mind. What I really wanted to do seemed impossible: get a set of images that, when placed in the woods, would both enhance the woods, and be enhanced by their setting, so that both were greater than the sum of the whole.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdwjFrxx-uWDC1l1vgYN8fV3FeEWv9kd30l1F_njyODp1CzZ9frVQdFy9HXGh5DQQig0gQ9-chDrlbgl15UHtw983SynwaRQK0_T_eXf6sBgJEGZa7x2WgYdl5XH0WKH-Eho_PibSvnQ/s1600/exhibition3a-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdwjFrxx-uWDC1l1vgYN8fV3FeEWv9kd30l1F_njyODp1CzZ9frVQdFy9HXGh5DQQig0gQ9-chDrlbgl15UHtw983SynwaRQK0_T_eXf6sBgJEGZa7x2WgYdl5XH0WKH-Eho_PibSvnQ/s320/exhibition3a-100.jpg" width="320" /></a>Entitled "The Eye of the Beholder", I wanted people to see the woods through my eyes. There is so much beauty in the detail, and by setting images of the details of the woods - the insects, butterflies, damselflies, flowers, light and shade, colour and texture - in the place where they were taken, I hoped that the eye of the beholder would be drawn into the image, through the image, and beyond into the woods themselves. Drawing people through the image into the reality beyond, and helping them to connect to the woods, and learn to see nature, and its beauty, in a different way.<br />
<br />
So much work! Picking the right pictures, selecting the right spot (and then finding I couldn't put the picture there because of buried stones, the need to turn the tractor, or simply poor lighting), finding the right kind of print that would be weather and UV resistant...and then bashing in the stakes (thank you, Stephen!) and mounting them.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiBhWIO9ygx_XpArCtqB3fkJJM8MZDfOIqzS7z-y4l3XeQGACp_eWSoN9V7iRBuT_6A-NT3ZqjKPaAtUQzIf0MNF3I82LmxobwkJv5OtbYUAH7w__F6LEBlTaBdALu54pF5R3vqytBxE/s1600/exhibition7b-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiBhWIO9ygx_XpArCtqB3fkJJM8MZDfOIqzS7z-y4l3XeQGACp_eWSoN9V7iRBuT_6A-NT3ZqjKPaAtUQzIf0MNF3I82LmxobwkJv5OtbYUAH7w__F6LEBlTaBdALu54pF5R3vqytBxE/s320/exhibition7b-100.jpg" width="320" /></a>Was it worth it - was it a dream come true? Well...this weekend we opened the exhibition (which will stay in place until November 2012), and 63 people came along to see it. And I think it worked, judging by some of the comments.<br />
<br />
I don't think I can ever make people see the wood through my eyes - but I DO think that by careful use of art in the landscape, the relationship between the viewer and the landscape can be made to change. These pictures don't do the same thing when they are indoors, on the walls - nice though they look. Placed outside, in the environment where they were taken, they can improve the connection between the person, photographer and the natural world. Photography in its real element. A dream of mine, and a dream come true.<br />
<br />
If you'd like to visit, we are open on Wednesday 29th August and 5th and 12th September between 6-8pm, as well as on our Open days on Sundays 23rd September, 28th October and 25th November. If a group would like to come, then please contact us and we can sort it out.<br />
<br />
<br />
And if you'd like to see the video of the exhibition with music - well, here it is. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/4JICR_nmvqo" target="_blank">The Eye of the Beholder on You Tube</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-51988072397534103102012-08-17T13:08:00.000+01:002012-08-17T13:08:27.722+01:00Beauty is in the eye of the beholder<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOe9xkRirMDGP4t6HU020n10fxIDngZOFmeCtUYlycYSrcSrLL3qUx-kg4Op6xndZDj3rNV8URZyljNJCgsyn6DFrSNP-Gi7ZIsJrmdS67e20k_CjfyIMc3WiM-yzNBFnduoGA4LKupY/s1600/dreamseat-200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOe9xkRirMDGP4t6HU020n10fxIDngZOFmeCtUYlycYSrcSrLL3qUx-kg4Op6xndZDj3rNV8URZyljNJCgsyn6DFrSNP-Gi7ZIsJrmdS67e20k_CjfyIMc3WiM-yzNBFnduoGA4LKupY/s320/dreamseat-200.jpg" width="320" /></a>I am constantly blown away by the beauty of the natural world, and by the beauty of the landscapes and creatures of our lovely woods. How is it possible to convey this to other people, so that they can see what I am seeing? This has been a question occupying my mind since I started my photography course way back in 2009. Now, approaching the end of this course, I have committed to put on an exhibition of images that attempts to do just that.<br />
<br />
The problem is that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. What one person perceives as beautiful may pass another by, in favour of a completely different aspect of the same scene. Beauty is ephemeral, transient, and depends on the emotions that a scene evokes in the person who sees it. Beauty is also more than the image itself: it depends on the sounds, smells, temperature, wind, humidity and the whole experience is much more than what somebody sees.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZbAB0Pje7AE/UC4zpDLe9oI/AAAAAAAAAs4/K1Tsmi_zmJA/s1600/exhibition-112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZbAB0Pje7AE/UC4zpDLe9oI/AAAAAAAAAs4/K1Tsmi_zmJA/s320/exhibition-112.jpg" width="320" /></a>So how can I convey some of these additional aspects of what I experienced when I took these pictures? There is so much more to an image than just the pixels on the final print. For me, looking at these images is an emotional experience because I know what I felt when I took them. It is also emotional because it is tied up with my love for the woods, and for their wildlife. I feel a deep-seated connection with the woods after spending many hours over the last five years in their presence. You can feel small changes with the weeks, months and seasons, and how those seasons vary from year to year. You can sense little creatures in the undergrowth, notice small changes in the paths that they take, become aware of what makes a particular perch attractive for a butterfly or dragonfly.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BAQsk8F-Kj8/UC4zrrvRKRI/AAAAAAAAAtA/8gkM94zGgLc/s1600/exhibition-120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BAQsk8F-Kj8/UC4zrrvRKRI/AAAAAAAAAtA/8gkM94zGgLc/s320/exhibition-120.jpg" width="293" /></a>What I have been busy with, and hence has taken my time away from this blog, is trying to put something together that shows this connection I have with the woods in a limited set of images. What was obvious from the outset is that these images have to be show outdoors, in the context in which they were taken. They have to be seen in the changing seasons of the wood, and with the viewer immersed in the smells, sounds, wind, rain, sunshine, warmth and cold, wet and dry of the woods. The sound of a buzzard, the rustle of a stealth vole through the grass, the buzz of a bumblebee, the joyful watery twittering of the goldfinches feeding on thistle seeds, the smell of damp grass and wood sage, the wind on your face and on your back - all of these will enhance what you see when you see the pictures.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDqC9DYUm9SXCEu46hbBCpDvJCTCi11Ga_-F_oBKkCWHIa_c-Zbmyh6RRq68EewEyFzBFq4QUTIby9hpbWZBoeb6VAvchdARQ0OrhhZ55UvjoeN74bbVN7EGlmYZ5FKdacQK3ZAMN2gM/s1600/exhibition-200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDqC9DYUm9SXCEu46hbBCpDvJCTCi11Ga_-F_oBKkCWHIa_c-Zbmyh6RRq68EewEyFzBFq4QUTIby9hpbWZBoeb6VAvchdARQ0OrhhZ55UvjoeN74bbVN7EGlmYZ5FKdacQK3ZAMN2gM/s320/exhibition-200.jpg" width="296" /></a>Likewise, I hope the pictures will enhance what the viewer sees when they are in the woods. Coming across a picture in its natural setting will, I hope, make people think of what they are looking at and see something of the detail that is there, if only you look for it. I hope it will also help people to see how things change with seasons, time of day, weather and all those other things that can make the woods such a different place from hour to hour, day to day, season to season and year to year.<br />
<br />
<br />
When I picked the pictures up from the printer I was almost shaking with excitement. What I hope is that some of that feeling spills over to those who see them, such that the viewer can get into my eyes, into my head, and see what I saw, and feel what I felt when I took those pictures. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I hope that this beholder can now share some of that with other people.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WJkO24O8o-g?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><i>The exhibition "The Eye of the Beholder" is opening on August Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday 26/7th August 2012, and will also be available for viewing on our final few Open Wednesday evenings of the year (until 2nd week of September), as well as on our September 23rd, October and November Open Days. Please come along if you can and take a look. If you can't there is a brief taster on our YouTube slideshow. </i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-67488065952250450752012-07-06T15:54:00.001+01:002012-07-06T15:54:45.266+01:00Forestry Panel Report<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8N7IkSKARUtTQB_VrTe5xYOSCX9VYXMMhhEWsm7x9nWLGBmdleiKsy6BdTTBnGMl818MD0wPSb2i_02dmylFy2DBaMlgeOcdSJgFOtK8TJGTBjNn9HbgUPo_ip75elEC_9EnAQgic8cA/s1600/milliondaisies-103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8N7IkSKARUtTQB_VrTe5xYOSCX9VYXMMhhEWsm7x9nWLGBmdleiKsy6BdTTBnGMl818MD0wPSb2i_02dmylFy2DBaMlgeOcdSJgFOtK8TJGTBjNn9HbgUPo_ip75elEC_9EnAQgic8cA/s320/milliondaisies-103.jpg" width="320" /></a>On 4<sup>th</sup> July, the Independent Forestry Panel
published their final report into the future of forestry in England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although it was initiated in response to the
public outcry at plans to sell off a large proportion of the public forest
estate (PFE), it is of great interest to everybody who owns, manages, works in
or enjoys woodland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, from the
perspective of somebody who owns and manages a woodland for wildlife, as well
as somebody who loves trees and woodlands, and somebody who cares about the
future of our precious woodlands and the ecosystems they support, what is good,
and what is not so good about the report?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First of all, I would like to say that I think this is an
excellent report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Panel appear to
have taken account of all the visits they made, people they talked to, and
submissions they received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
implemented, there is no doubt that the state of our woodlands would improve
enormously – safeguarding public forests for the nation, providing help and
support to improve management of existing forests, providing support for
planting of new woodlands where they can best be enjoyed by people, and make
the greatest difference for nature, and supporting the wood industry as well as
other enterprises based in and around woodlands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1k50AkVJe0K8Wt1YUPu84b1vYhlP0NGZVTQTKlM0AiLIVQ8kFMUHzhrH04TWSgDwpyh38JvqHnRLkooKsDbu2y8odfLARfptdiMioAOV9D4iFyXYKCHaR3SsyrZi_v0KRzVTUXruvCcI/s1600/meadow-106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1k50AkVJe0K8Wt1YUPu84b1vYhlP0NGZVTQTKlM0AiLIVQ8kFMUHzhrH04TWSgDwpyh38JvqHnRLkooKsDbu2y8odfLARfptdiMioAOV9D4iFyXYKCHaR3SsyrZi_v0KRzVTUXruvCcI/s320/meadow-106.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woodlands and forests provide so many benefits, and it is
clear that people care about them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
this report makes clear is just how important these benefits are, how we have
not recognised them in the past, and just how much it would cost to accrue
these benefits in other ways, even were it possible to do this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forests, and their benefits, have been significantly
under-valued, and under-invested in, and yet provide an excellent return in
terms of environmental and ecosystem benefits, leisure and tourism, physical
and mental health, connection with nature, as well as the more obvious benefits
of carbon dioxide reduction, and provision of wood as fuel and for
construction.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6KJdmTmIlz4/T_b6wZxlM5I/AAAAAAAAAsQ/warU_QWI_9g/s1600/leafletphoto-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6KJdmTmIlz4/T_b6wZxlM5I/AAAAAAAAAsQ/warU_QWI_9g/s320/leafletphoto-100.jpg" width="320" /></a>This report envisages an expanded role of two divisions of
the Forestry Commission – Forest Services, and a new body to replace Forest
Enterprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new Forest Services
would be tasked with providing advice proactively for all woodland owners on
how their woods can be managed in light of their own objectives for the
wood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Considering many woodlands are
under-managed, or un-managed, this will be very helpful, particularly if the
advice considers the contribution the woodland can make to the ecosystem as a
whole, as well as support to help the owners achieve a good outcome – be it
support for increased public access, visitor centres, small enterprises or
small scale extraction of timber to local markets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At present, these are activities are frequently
loss-making, or not supported by local planning authorities.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Public forests will be managed by a new Forest Enterprise,
which will be overseen by Guardians, and in turn will be put in trust for the
nation under a Charter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new FE will
still have the ability to buy and sell forestry land, but this will be a controlled
process, rather than a short-term stop-gap to balance the books thanks to
under-investment by the Government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
more strategic viewpoint on management, on forestry cycles, rather than
Parliamentary cycles, is a great move – none of us own woodlands, but are
simply their guardians, as they have outlived generations of humans.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6WEAMt0jfRLOEvcyw_AsJ-LK5elDn1Xo8DS1Rq3R66aWX-536K_dNj5vSuomJcXCecYvbhqgDWRwp-41LdGc3gywtOlEkvdG2E5vHYney3QJZc-BnU6RjiCL4qv0GJmseoszZNZVtsU/s1600/TPbenn-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6WEAMt0jfRLOEvcyw_AsJ-LK5elDn1Xo8DS1Rq3R66aWX-536K_dNj5vSuomJcXCecYvbhqgDWRwp-41LdGc3gywtOlEkvdG2E5vHYney3QJZc-BnU6RjiCL4qv0GJmseoszZNZVtsU/s320/TPbenn-100.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Woodland creation is to be targeted to areas of greatest
benefit for the environment (to improve connectivity of habitats), and for
people (nearer to where they live, rather than small, random, inaccessible farm
woodlands). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Best of all, it is recommended that all children have
woodland education sessions as part of their education, with the aim of
connecting children to nature.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The main areas of concern that I have are around the
protection afforded to Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW) and how the
Guardians are appointed and operate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think this report has missed an opportunity to secure high-level protection for
ASNW (and plantations on ancient sites, or PAWS).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although protection through the planning
system is recommended, the report stops short of recommending that all ASNW
gets <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">de facto</i> SSSI status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It leaves the door open to developments where
the benefits outweigh the costs, a system which can be exploited by those with
powerful interests and good lawyers, even when local planning authorities and
local plans wish to retain ASNW.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus further
loss of this irreplaceable habitat, is not guaranteed. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other area of concern I have relates to the Guardians of
the public forest estate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will have
a powerful role, overseeing the work of FE, and in particular, acquisitions and
sales of public woodland, and permissions for other organisations, including
private enterprise and NGOs, to manage the woodland on behalf of the public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who will be the Guardians?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How will they be appointed or elected and how
can we ensure that these same Guardians do not act in self-interest,
particularly if they come from the same private and third-sector organisations that
stand to benefit from purchases, sales, and management contracts?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Parliament, and its Committees and Members,
can come under huge pressure from those with vested interests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be important to see that this group
are accountable, and that their interests and those of their work do not
conflict.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkGlbz32VoZwrjQCSrxQaWlzOaeUNNibTPzYDGTkH4f_-nzxFtNxVGqLWV4ubp2wHIq85b9AX2mWiQXhYtOdYgjnfct63IbdzUjc2sggArqkMI7-6sovFrfPhVUGJMFaCja2eN_AWwKQ/s1600/meadow-108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkGlbz32VoZwrjQCSrxQaWlzOaeUNNibTPzYDGTkH4f_-nzxFtNxVGqLWV4ubp2wHIq85b9AX2mWiQXhYtOdYgjnfct63IbdzUjc2sggArqkMI7-6sovFrfPhVUGJMFaCja2eN_AWwKQ/s320/meadow-108.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I hope that this will result in real support for small
woodland owners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The type of support I
would like to see will come in the form of expertise, helping small woodland
owners to fit in with the larger picture at landscape level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Public access will not be improved if there
is no support for security, staffing, and most of all, paying public liability
insurance, which can amount to many thousands of pounds a year if woodlands are
accessible to the public and particularly children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Management will not be improved if there is
no support for harvesting of wood and its extraction, and this requires new
local markets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The principle of “wood
first” in construction is advocated, but unless local wood is available at
appropriate prices, there is a risk it will just be imported.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wildlife habitats will not improve if the
wrong trees are planted in the wrong place, and a single system of management
is enforced across all woodlands – some woods may be best left alone, others
need a lot of work, and the advice given by FS needs to reflect that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Woodland owners will
not work with schools if it costs them money to do so – the health and safety
culture makes this difficult, even for those who are willing to encourage
school visits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Woodland owners will not
be able to improve the facilities offered at their woods if there is no funding
for improved access, and planning authorities consistently refuse reasonable
requests for tool sheds, shelters, visitor centres, eco-camping and temporary or low-impact
accommodation for workers managing woodland sustainably. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of all, nothing will happen if the Government does not
commit to funding, and to making the recommendations of this report a
reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to hold them to
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to make it happen.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-67449283994052456762012-06-21T16:56:00.000+01:002012-06-21T16:56:43.576+01:00The Meadow Comes to Life<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj13LoV7-7HpekMU0wz6Dn-3MM4LYD1_aj_-Xn6Sn_Ke-C04m5hbaMWLJPcp3IpjBgET4_Zv0AAJUmODwqG2A1Xs45b1RBDmB50yDtKQ3ioTfhrw1dBM6sQQJZHE-RMcu2DFVAdNgzu-xQ/s1600/milliondaisies-103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj13LoV7-7HpekMU0wz6Dn-3MM4LYD1_aj_-Xn6Sn_Ke-C04m5hbaMWLJPcp3IpjBgET4_Zv0AAJUmODwqG2A1Xs45b1RBDmB50yDtKQ3ioTfhrw1dBM6sQQJZHE-RMcu2DFVAdNgzu-xQ/s400/milliondaisies-103.jpg" width="400" /></a>Last year was a drought and this year has been a deluge - and it is obvious what Betty's Wood meadow and trees prefer! We have had some worrying moments since the meadow was planted in October 2010 and the trees in February 2011. Despite a great display of poppies last year, the perennial wildflowers and the grass sward in particular were very sparse - after a year of growth you could still see the lines made by the seed drill. The diversity was also low, with little in the way of the important butterfly foodplants, such as birds-foot trefoil. Some areas had barely any growth on them at all, and newly-planted areas of wildlowers on top of the spoil removed when we dug the ponds had just a tiny green fringe. The largest meadow was so sparse that when we mowed it, we were throwing up dust from the parched and cracked surface, and there were few clippings left from the sparse mayweed and poppy growth.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiznc9jKsSMWvQ8QMdj2P74LUlcrmqA2qAySZ6WzwiFpRPmMeRL_uUy07-cQ5M4cdz1keS5TkTQDorOghL-GoIxJrWygf3hVFAiuPPDsFkbaNcZDaQsCSCMFizhsW1NyPRKo5-R9RVz54I/s1600/eveningmeadow-103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiznc9jKsSMWvQ8QMdj2P74LUlcrmqA2qAySZ6WzwiFpRPmMeRL_uUy07-cQ5M4cdz1keS5TkTQDorOghL-GoIxJrWygf3hVFAiuPPDsFkbaNcZDaQsCSCMFizhsW1NyPRKo5-R9RVz54I/s320/eveningmeadow-103.jpg" width="320" /></a>The trees, too, had suffered, despite our best attempts to water them. Although we ended the year with 5% loss plus 1% stolen out of our 5000 trees, some were not in the best of shape. In particular, the species we had planted in the area that is normally wet (alder, varieties of willow, poplar, aspen) had struggled to put on any growth at all, and in places, had managed only one or two leaves.<br />
<br />
This year started badly too - a drought through March left us wondering how we were going to cope through the summer. We needn't have worried - although the rain has not been pleasant for humans, and at times we have had problems with the quantity (including a flood in the woods that almost washed away our bridge), the trees and meadow have loved it, and responded with growth that we could only have dreamed of last year.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CkVVlIO7Om54Pbfv26LRxWBB6oRSk6IFrKdvIOG7tEjr2dxs5MxfI8cz6SMAhn2WR_c2Tox_7mtU8qwC2k9P36mmadpUrnp-q9SSAQR2DL5h9wXp5Ukc-J8mjJHMj98VAdpE6A75xts/s1600/azuredamselfly-112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CkVVlIO7Om54Pbfv26LRxWBB6oRSk6IFrKdvIOG7tEjr2dxs5MxfI8cz6SMAhn2WR_c2Tox_7mtU8qwC2k9P36mmadpUrnp-q9SSAQR2DL5h9wXp5Ukc-J8mjJHMj98VAdpE6A75xts/s320/azuredamselfly-112.jpg" width="293" /></a>Standing by the ponds last night, I could hear the leaves of our little aspen trees as they trembled against each other - aspen is the only tree in our wood that you can identify by sound! Last year, they had a couple of leaves each, but this year, enough to make a noise. Our cloned willows are growing enthusiastically. Some of our trees are now about 5 feet high and others are showing great recovery growth. Areas are now beginning to look a bit like a young woodland, rather than a parched meadow with a few sad trees in it.<br />
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And the meadow! Oh my goodness, the meadow! We have such lush growth it is hard to walk through it. The grasses, yellow rattle, beautiful clovers, medick, sainfoin, tufted vetch and large patches of birds-foot trefoil. And daisies. Lots and lots of daisies. Over a million ox-eye daisies.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QiCUamXN_nc/T-NDudx4mtI/AAAAAAAAArc/hfSWEk_6hB4/s1600/fourspotchasers-102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QiCUamXN_nc/T-NDudx4mtI/AAAAAAAAArc/hfSWEk_6hB4/s320/fourspotchasers-102.jpg" width="320" /></a>With the meadow and improvements to our ponds have come insects - thousands of insects. We have a really good show of common blue and brown argus butterflies this year. We also have small heath butterflies for the first time, and to our delight, the dingy skipper has arrived too. Almost every flower has a ladybird, some kind of bug, beetle, fly, bee, hoverfly, spider or other living thing on it, feeding from it, and enjoying it. The grass is thick enough for us to see vole and rabbit tunnels and pathways. A skylark is sussing out potential nesting spots. Our ponds, too, are showing increased diversity of life, including common blue, azure, blue-tailed, red-eyed, white-legged and large red damselflies, as well as the four-spotted and broad-bodied chaser dragonflies. As you walk through the meadow, little clouds of azure damselflies rise up and settle again. The contrast with the agricultural land over the fence is staggering.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOfG6bq49UgvB0pffCfDbu4vFuxRSwDYPqgehe0Tv7XymOv7fXG6e0TW2DR7-0YhxHiPTy7Qm4nZGD9vntnlJtzvQk-Uat6HlcDTWqoDmNoFVUNqYewLjnPI_9vs_QoH6M9E7L1lk1wi0/s1600/meadow-101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOfG6bq49UgvB0pffCfDbu4vFuxRSwDYPqgehe0Tv7XymOv7fXG6e0TW2DR7-0YhxHiPTy7Qm4nZGD9vntnlJtzvQk-Uat6HlcDTWqoDmNoFVUNqYewLjnPI_9vs_QoH6M9E7L1lk1wi0/s320/meadow-101.jpg" width="187" /></a><br />
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We complain about the rain. We complain about having to wear wellies and a raincoat in summer. But the rain has wrought a transformation that outweighs the inconvenience. The meadow has come to life. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-2356016841189640962012-05-29T15:07:00.000+01:002012-05-29T15:07:30.152+01:00Nature at the Centre<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kErwvTsyir0/T8TXiznv9RI/AAAAAAAAAqo/El3bENVr9jg/s1600/damselflowers-fs-101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kErwvTsyir0/T8TXiznv9RI/AAAAAAAAAqo/El3bENVr9jg/s320/damselflowers-fs-101.jpg" width="320" /></a>Nature conservation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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conserved and kept in good condition for the next generation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except, of course, despite decades of
dedicated work, nature is not being conserved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is shrinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is not to
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that live there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24tqTPMO3Rfk7EZHnH4JkgIenI-7hnspp7SxAlwm0LWe9M3tcmtP1LTz-opuKjtqE_l1SJwRPSHY7vc-DNFOW7YBC0sXKbbDmLZXEbl8tlUein_uTahHD1tUj3x-e8XMqHm51mGV6wbc/s1600/walkroundwoods-103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24tqTPMO3Rfk7EZHnH4JkgIenI-7hnspp7SxAlwm0LWe9M3tcmtP1LTz-opuKjtqE_l1SJwRPSHY7vc-DNFOW7YBC0sXKbbDmLZXEbl8tlUein_uTahHD1tUj3x-e8XMqHm51mGV6wbc/s200/walkroundwoods-103.jpg" width="196" /></a> </div>
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There are some species that are doing well, particularly
those that are adaptable and can live with humans in towns and cities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But mostly, numbers are falling, particularly
of specialist species that need a habitat that has taken thousands of years to
develop – woodland butterflies, woodland birds, farmland birds, grassland
flowers and plants, whole hosts of other insects and the creatures that feed
upon them, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, fungi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nature conservation feels like trying to bail
out a sinking boat with a leaky bucket.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The problem is, nature conservation is seen as something
that you do on nature reserves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But these
will never be enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are too
diverse, too scattered, not connected to each other, and much, much too
small.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And vulnerable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nature cannot be preserved by keeping it
limited to special areas.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whenever I travel about, I very much get the feeling that
human activity is only borrowing land from nature – the trees, bushes,
grassland, shrubs, flowers, hedgerows and other habitats are sitting there,
just waiting to reclaim what we have borrowed from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Occasionally, you come across an old building,
completely overgrown with trees, flowers and plants, providing homes for foxes,
rabbits, birds and insects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very
frequently, it seems these buildings have been occupied until quite recently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are only borrowing from nature, and
borrowing for a short while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nature has
the power to take things back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzL3hLFUJ7KbcOLf3gTca79N3nUNkRXeQQkMZJLMoRhnElKZiFsRqNrsgBzGSI90tV5IuJSoT4xlSHdJLCPEX55z-W8BlAyo3xDfyM85ZEzkCwF7nlHB4_yDXXluDmKSur0ibp8gUXpl0/s1600/damselflowers-119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzL3hLFUJ7KbcOLf3gTca79N3nUNkRXeQQkMZJLMoRhnElKZiFsRqNrsgBzGSI90tV5IuJSoT4xlSHdJLCPEX55z-W8BlAyo3xDfyM85ZEzkCwF7nlHB4_yDXXluDmKSur0ibp8gUXpl0/s320/damselflowers-119.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
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What we cannot do is borrow too much, in the wrong
places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to recognise that we are
borrowing, not taking, or dominating, or controlling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nature needs to be put at the centre of
everything we do, not shifted out to the fringes, where we grudgingly make
space for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It needs to be seen as a
benefit for everybody, not a cost, not a regrettable overhead, not an
unnecessary expense, not a drag on business and a brake on development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Putting nature at the centre means that
everybody, in their daily lives, and in their businesses, need to think what
they can do to make their lives friendly for nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the thing is, it doesn’t need to cost
much, or anything at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even taking a
human-centred view, there is plenty of research showing that a pleasant working
environment, and an environment full of greenery and trees and plants, results
in less sickness, better staff morale and better productivity. </div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWrNociYDVlnSKm5ietXZHfFCPlBM2xZrAlPs2zJpz2o8L-FoPhrBsCBppVx4ot7JFiUpWra_w7YVlQkDrNuJ-WGXbmdIk3SnN23u-JZywyN2w-mHHNoSslaJX3TpacTU1BLz2bjSh4U/s1600/damselflowers-102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWrNociYDVlnSKm5ietXZHfFCPlBM2xZrAlPs2zJpz2o8L-FoPhrBsCBppVx4ot7JFiUpWra_w7YVlQkDrNuJ-WGXbmdIk3SnN23u-JZywyN2w-mHHNoSslaJX3TpacTU1BLz2bjSh4U/s320/damselflowers-102.jpg" width="293" /></a><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need to see development, such as houses and
businesses, as fitting in around nature and not the other way round.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also need to be fitted in in the best
way possible, and where damage needs to be offset, this needs to be high
quality habitat, provided in the right place, preferably locally, and result in
a net gain, and improvements in connectivity of habitats, so people can enjoy
the benefits if they have paid the price of habitat being lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And no habitat that is irreplaceable should
be lost.</div>
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Ambitious targets for conservation will not be met without a
fundamental shift in thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fit in
around nature, not nature around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
nature is not put at the centre, then nature conservation efforts will
repeatedly fail, and will habitat loss will turn into a rout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will continue to bail out the sinking ship
with a leaky bucket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nature at the
centre of all we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the only way
to stem the tide.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7005599008734264770.post-53132958187321677762012-05-09T15:20:00.000+01:002012-05-09T15:20:46.319+01:00True wealth<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg637A4ira0QV_RGumK27ImPSXbTcOpwxiScxr0C4hzfn8tvSEH27dbqM5Q70V6cxKzq1hwEedj2iksOXcx5appbmKgNq-YpdeKsejXuNLGB_BxkgANuE2psW0BOfgxmU3wbLbQXOgT2Jk/s1600/nutterwollets-106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg637A4ira0QV_RGumK27ImPSXbTcOpwxiScxr0C4hzfn8tvSEH27dbqM5Q70V6cxKzq1hwEedj2iksOXcx5appbmKgNq-YpdeKsejXuNLGB_BxkgANuE2psW0BOfgxmU3wbLbQXOgT2Jk/s320/nutterwollets-106.jpg" width="303" /></a>What is wealth? GDP? Per Capita GDP? GDP growth? Balance of trade? A particular income? A particular lifestyle? Bling? We are conditioned to think of wealth in terms of economic wealth, the stuff we own. Having stuff is nice. It makes life easier.<br />
<br />
However, there is another kind of wealth - and it is something we can experience for free, any day of the week, almost everywhere. Nature is incredibly rich in beauty and diversity. Some of my most amazing experiences have come in natural places.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjaBH5hMNwQBCBJ8-iVjcYTH7OHPL_PZow1dt7KpK4MUuguQaupyfMrwiPWUFOsjRVG4zn4ph8k3_usz0AYijzT9-O-a8mSIuVYXJWu0lMP-IGce_mtWnt6zYPtfLXInW9ej9uictGtXw/s1600/nutterwollets-109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjaBH5hMNwQBCBJ8-iVjcYTH7OHPL_PZow1dt7KpK4MUuguQaupyfMrwiPWUFOsjRVG4zn4ph8k3_usz0AYijzT9-O-a8mSIuVYXJWu0lMP-IGce_mtWnt6zYPtfLXInW9ej9uictGtXw/s320/nutterwollets-109.jpg" width="320" /></a>So it was that I was walking around our woods yesterday. In the space of about 90 minutes, I was privileged to see and photograph a nuthatch feeding her chicks, a kestrel with prey being chided by a blackbird, a brimstone butterfly exploring the new buckthorn bushes we planted this winter, and an unbelievably cute pair of tawny owl chicks dozing in the summer sunshine. Then there were the things I heard and didn't manage to photograph - the chatter of the nesting blue tits and great tits, the jackdaws, the blackcaps and their lovely scratchy song, the chiffchaffs, the great spotted and green woodpeckers, the nuthatches and treecreepers, the angry wrens, the stealth voles, and rabbits, and muntjac deer, a glimpse of the fox. Then there are the things I didn't see, or pay much attention to, but upon which all of these other species depend - the beetles, bugs, flies, larvae, other insects, lichens and moss, leaf litter, grasses and sedges, reeds and rushes, bark and logs, the fungi and flowers, including our beautiful bluebells, coming to their best right now. <br />
<br />
In our tiny little patch of land, just 20 acres, there was so much wealth it was brimming over - so much I couldn't even see it all, or take it in. And that is just 20 acres, on just one day, in just one place.<br />
<br />
Even in the town, in our little garden, we have nesting sparrows stripping the pampas grass for their nests, busy blue tits taking bugs from the crab apple tree, in which we also have woodpigeon making a rather poor attempt at nesting. I see collared doves, long tailed tits, greenfinch, goldfinch, mallard, herons, buzzards...and that is just in the garden, and just the birds. There is a lot of other stuff too.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnl3Xl5iHdWZPm7u43jqQNenymXaPzimzgVMBdT4-5h9Pg7oTlHzJt2u8yZjWJQfGepQ1VeNe0qowZaEhKZ03QAV9xElLlBujNrpY54S4YOQ8O81FPPrF0sRstocDRkPgmOpNxxInAu_Y/s1600/nutterwollets-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnl3Xl5iHdWZPm7u43jqQNenymXaPzimzgVMBdT4-5h9Pg7oTlHzJt2u8yZjWJQfGepQ1VeNe0qowZaEhKZ03QAV9xElLlBujNrpY54S4YOQ8O81FPPrF0sRstocDRkPgmOpNxxInAu_Y/s320/nutterwollets-100.jpg" width="320" /></a>A recent visit to the woods by a beetle and bug expert in foul weather revealed nearly 40 species of beetle and bug. FORTY species - and most of them I had never seen. In better weather, on another day, there may well be many more.<br />
<br />
All around us are amazing things, in amazing places, one of which is our lovely ancient woodland. What is sad is that so few people now get the chance to experience a truly rich habitat like this. Woodland is destroyed, trees chopped down, and although planting new trees can be good, and in time will produce habitats for many creatures, it can never reproduce the wealth that has been developed over hundreds, or thousands of years, in these special places.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMt54eEJC6RCQVHkxHUUhDpElb6cSrKvBLe4ziFGGiIo6P-ValgQrdeoD_Fx0nd1odm2ts18bTLrJV39WzEerZ69XSbcqQZzd80TlWqZIh4_EvWogFzfDdFEoUehO72BCJJn2umm9mQo/s1600/nutterwollets-104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMt54eEJC6RCQVHkxHUUhDpElb6cSrKvBLe4ziFGGiIo6P-ValgQrdeoD_Fx0nd1odm2ts18bTLrJV39WzEerZ69XSbcqQZzd80TlWqZIh4_EvWogFzfDdFEoUehO72BCJJn2umm9mQo/s320/nutterwollets-104.jpg" width="320" /></a>The Transport Secretary recently suggested that ancient woodlands could be dug up and moved to make way for HS2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-17867138 - a statement that betrays a lack of understanding of the difference between a truly rich, wealthy habitat, and an also-ran. We need a lot more also-ran habitats, a lot more woodlands, heathlands, grasslands, hedgerows and new ponds - but we must preserve the true gems that we also possess. This doesn't mean that they should be monuments, devoid of human activity or life. Indeed, human activity has shaped these habitats, and sustainable management of these woods by coppicing is instrumental in providing a truly rich habitat. But it does mean that they should not be destroyed.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Just spend a day in one of these rich places with somebody who knows what to look for, and you will be astounded at what is there, right on our doorsteps, completely for free. Perhaps that is the problem - this wealth is not monetary wealth, and we don't usually have to pay to enjoy it. So we don't value it in the same way as we value our stuff. Until, eventually, it isn't there any more. By which time we have become conditioned to an impoverished existence, devoid of the wealth the nature has to offer. How very sad that would be. Nature is treasure of the highest order. It is true wealth and upon it all other types of wealth depend. I hope we learn this before it is all gone.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883590212097200066noreply@blogger.com0