The Regional Forestry Forum this year will take place on 15th October 2009, 2 – 4:30 pm

It will be held in Preston at The Gujarat Hindu Society Centre,South Meadow Lane,Preston,PR1 8JN

The Forum is of particular importance this year as we will refresh the current delivery plan and look to embed Forestry, in its widest sense, into the developing integrated regional strategy, RS2010. We will also assess progress on the current delivery plan and identify the key issues/opportunities for the sector.

The programme for the Forum meeting will follow but we hope that you will pencil this important meeting into your diaries and register your interest in attending the event through the link below.

We look forward to your involvement in continuing to develop the role of the Forestry sector in the North West.   Apologies for any cross-postings.

Location details:   http://www.ghsenterprise.co.uk/contact_ghs_centre.html

Click on the link to register:   http://www.doodle.com/8ezduam9s87a2bup

The Regional Forestry Framework has been working with HMP Haverigg to develop a programme of training and environmental work for prisoners, which is already boosting confidence, increasing skills and improving long term prospects.

A partnership between HMP Haverigg, the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, Natural England, Uclan and the Forestry Commission has pioneered a new programme of training, to get prisoners out into their local environment and contributing to the community, whilst taking the first step towards long term rehabilitation.

A small group of prisoners (who were rigorously selected) undertook six one-hour accredited training sessions with BTCV, learning skills such as dry stone walling, footpath construction and tree planting.  The work was formulated to provide prisoners with usable and transferable skills, vital if they are to improve their employment prospects once out of prison.  The work also gain the men a clear boost in confidence and self esteem and it reduced stress levels.  Importantly, it also helped to build bridges between the prison and the local community.

Following the success of the HMP Haverigg work, the project has been extended to become part of the Target Wellbeing Pan Regional Prison Programme  Greener on the Outside scheme.

http://www.uclan.ac.uk/health/schools/sphcs/prisons_programme.php

Recognition of the important role that woodlands and timber can play in tackling climate change is integral to action on climate change, ConFor outline in their new strategy.

ConFor’s new head of policy, Rupert Pigot, has been exploring ideas with the UK government and the opposition to ensure that the sector maximises opportunity to help the UK develop towards a low carbon future, securing rural jobs along the supply chain and ensuring the continue success of forest and wood-using businesses.

ConFor has been securing cross-party support through the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Forestry to tackle the lack of new planting throughout England and to consider the role of solid wood products as well as wood for renewable energy.

A more detailed strategy from ConFor will be submitted to the political parties in September.

A dramatic 20m high sculpture, entitled Dream, has been unveiled at a public launch event at Sutton Manor, St Helens, the Forestry Commission managed site in the Mersey Forest..

Thousands of members of the local community and visitors from further afield attended the event on Sunday 31st May to celebrate the new sculpture, a joint commission by St Helens Council and ex-miners from the Sutton Manor Colliery, in St Helens, where the structure is now sited.

Dream takes the form of the head of a girl with her eyes closed. Designed by renowned artist Jaume Plensa, it is intended to become a ‘gateway’ feature for both Merseyside and Greater Manchester, symbolising the regeneration of the region.

The sculpture and the former coal mine site were chosen as part of Channel 4’s Big Art Project which aims to create new works of public art, commissioned by communities.
With support from The Forestry Commission, who put forward 10% of the funding required, it is hoped that the Dream site could form part of a network of green recreation sites within The Mersey Forest.

And Dream has more recently made the news again, when a climber from Haydock, referring to himself only as ‘Bigjobs’, scaled the statue barefoot, carrying a scrubbing brush to ensure his climb did not deface the artwork.

The University of Cumbria’s Newton Rigg campus is pursuing an aim to become completely carbon neutral, thanks to a range of projects undertaken by the National School of Forestry. Work that ranges from coppicing for woodfuel and studies of Cumbria’s biomass supply chains to systems that ensure university vehicles and boilers are as low carbon as possible are all playing their part.

The National School of Forestry is undertaking three different trials of biomass production systems. An existing coppice system has produced 600 tonnes of coppice over the past six months, whilst a ‘demonstration woodland’ is managed by one of the School’s UKERC (UK Energy Research Centre) PhDs, its biodiversity monitored in managed and unmanaged sections. The School has also just planted a small short rotation forestry trial in order to develop a short ‘self-guided’ tour through the campus.

The School is also examining the link between biomass and biodiversity, to ensure that the wider environment does not suffer through the production of biomass via short term tree planting. The School has recently been awarded a UKERC (UK Energy Research Centre) PhD to manage woodlands for biomass whilst maintaining and increasing biodiversity. This works alongside Butterfly Conservation at their woodlands in South Cumbria and North Lancashire.

Alongside a small internal project examining supply logistics of biomass, developing a GIS based system to look at supply from under-managed woodlands and how it might be used, the School is also working alongside Cumbria Woodlands to check the quality of biomass as used by local users. Initial results indicate that there are significant differences between the delivery specifications of biomass and the actual moisture content.

However, the School is not focused solely on wood and boasts an integrated ‘land-based’ approach in their commitment to low carbon initiatives. All farm vehicles now run on biodiesel produced from their newly operating biodiesel demo plant, soon to be the centre of a trial into oil fired heating boilers. Similarly, a biomass boiler is due to be installed in student residences in Autumn, using the School’s own coppice and woodland material, whilst  a ‘rocket’ composter has been added to campus, ensuring that all food waste can be processed.
Another UKERC PhD project looking at the sustainability and community acceptance of Palm oil production for biofuel is also underway.

Keep up to date with what the National School of Forestry and the Centre for Wildlife Conservation at the University of Cumbria are up to by reading their blog: https://portfolio.pebblepad.co.uk/cumbria/viewasset.aspx?oid=48158&type=blog

The Forestry Commission’s Grizedale Forest newly developed visitor experience is close to completion, with the new Visitor Centre, Bike Hire centre and minibus shuttle service already open for use, and a launch event planned for September.

The finishing touches that remain to be done on site include the completion of the orientation building, an art archive and landscaping including two bridges.

The £6 million project has also already seen a wood-fuelled heating system installed, which alongside the shuttle service, is helping to reduce the site’s carbon footprint.. Resource centre, The Yan, was opened last summer by Chairman of the Forestry Commission, Lord Clark of Windermere.

The need to hit our targets on woodland cover, maintain a healthy supply of timber and cut carbon emissions are all critical points in considering a policy on open habitat restoration.  This is according to a submission from the Northwest Forestry Framework to the Forestry Commission’s consultation on expanding open habitats from woods and forests in England.

The consultation ended on 5 June and will result in an options paper for ministers, prepared by the Forestry Commission. The Northwest’s response urged the Commission to set the target for restoration at a low level due to concerns over the region’s long-stated strategic aim of extending woodland cover as well as points raised by regional partners around carbon balance, the public acceptability of woodland removal, long-term management costs and the confidence of the timber industry. The Forestry Commission has recently published a summary of the responses to the consultation which can be viewed here (http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestry.nsf/byunique/INFD-7LZKKA)

The Forestry Commission is now working up detailed policy proposals to put to Ministers in the Autumn.

On 6th July 2009, a public consultation on the long term future role of the Public Forest Estate began.

The Public Forest Estate is publicly owned and managed by the Forestry Commission. It consists of over 1,500 different woods and forests across England (around 24,000 ha in the North West alone) and it is estimated that more than half the country’s population live within 10km of the Estate. The consultation has so far included a series of regional meetings to stimulate discussion, and now the Forestry Commission is encouraging you to submit a written response to the consultation.

The consultation will form a major piece of evidence that a larger study will evaluate. Following the Forestry Commission’s recommendation, the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, has asked the Forestry Commission to undertake a study of the Public Forest Estate in England to consider its future long term sustainable role and make recommendations about any necessary changes to improve its ability to deliver relevant priorities in the Strategy for England’s Trees, Woods and Forests.

To find out more about the study and to contribute to the consultation, please visit http://www.forestry.gov.uk/ENGLAND-ESTATESTUDY

The public consultation will close on 28th September 2009.

An email survey will soon be sent to you, and it’s your opportunity to tell us how you think we’re doing, and what you think we should do differently.

The Regional Forestry Framework partnership is consulting with all its contacts throughout August, to find out what people think about the delivery of the Framework to date, how effective and useful communication has been, and what ideas people have for the future of the Framework.  The email survey, which will be distributed across the full Framework mailing list, will also provide people with an opportunity to nominate new contacts and partners for the Framework’s work.

The findings of the survey will form part of the action plan review, which will take place between September 2009 and Spring 2010.

The first Framework action plan was produced in 2006, to drive delivery of the Framework and to establish real projects that could change the shape of the region’s woodland and forestry sectors. Three years on, the partnership is preparing to create a new plan for the next three years.

The current action plan mirrors the main Framework and sets targets in each of the six action areas. An annual review of the plan has shown that the majority of these targets are being met (in 2008, 95% of actions were progressing on or ahead of schedule).  The partnership is now reviewing the plan, to create a new set of projects and goals.  Importantly, this action plan will be carefully aligned with both the national Strategy for England’s Trees, Woods and Forests Delivery Plan and the Northwest Regional Strategy 2010, (or RS 2010, the document that will steer all economic, social and environmental actions for the region).  The Regional Forestry Framework partnership are already inputting into RS 2010 to ensure that forestry is a key element.

The new Framework action plan will be launched in Spring 2010.