MARKE TS T IMBE R Woodlands in Waiting


What hope is there for small woodlands to cover the cost of their existence? Nick Gibbs looks at some of the options and particularLly the sale of timber


T


here’s a mantra you hear around woodlands and woodsfolk, that ‘the woodland that pays, stays’.


This has been a standard argument in forestry the world over, based on the principle that for people to care for their trees they need a financial incentive, ideally with short, medium and long term benefits. That way current work and day- to-day existence can be funded by immediate returns, but in such a way that improves the forest for future years and future generations. With sustainable returns comes


a motivation to ‘own’ the trees, look after the trees and harvest the trees, and not just reap them for what they can offer today. The key is in the word ‘sustainable’, which needs to be used in a holistic way if it’s to work, rather than simply a silvicultural measure of how many plants or trees or crops can be sustained on a piece of land.


Making woods pay The challenge for owners and managers of woodlands, from farmers to ‘amateur’ landowners, is finding a way to make them pay. I use the word ‘pay’ in the loosest form possible, because for some people the payment is in the satisfaction of watching a woodland flourish and the biodiversity improve. We’ll ignore, at this point, the argument regarding management, and whether wildlife would be better off if we did nothing to the woods. Even if that were certainly the case, most people agree that we can’t afford to leave our woodlands unmanaged because we need their resource and it would be irresponsible to leave it in a state that is going to diminish the value of the material (both


12 Smallwoods Spring 2010


MARKE TS


ENT ERPRISE


Break even Alternative ways to make woodlands pay


Transport is a significant cost in the


sale of trees for timber. Unless there are a few woodlands near one another you'll need enough to fill a lorry


financially and usefully) and make a return to management too costly to contemplate. The two most obvious markets for


woodland produce are timber and firewood. If you read the Forestry Journal you may have noticed a column of advertisements for Timber Wanted in the Classified section. So we rang Hugh Smart of Whippletree who regularly advertise Quality Oak Required, Standing of Felled. We


Sweet


chestnut logs ready roadside, ready to be collected in Hampshire


wanted to know how often they buy wood from smaller woodlands. “We’d never consider less than an artic load, 650cuft,” Hugh Smart tells us. “The more the merrier, to make it cost effective.” The maximum load of a crane-loading lorry is 650cuft, or 23- 24 tonnes. That could be three huge trees or 35-40 small ones. However, like many timber processors, Whippletree are looking for good trees that will produce quality wood. “There are lots of grades,” says Hugh Smart, “and you’ll be very fortunate to have a few very good trees. The smaller they are the lower the grade, but larger doesn’t necessarily mean better. The best trees are usually mid-trees, about 20-30in quarter girth at chest height. They need to be straight, cylindrical and evenly grown, without any twists. “A lot of small woodland owners tend to spoil their trees. They’ll say they’re clear up to 30ft because someone has cut all the branches,” Hugh explains, illuding to the fact that branchless doesn’t mean the timber is knot-free.


www.smallwoods.org.uk


Though they are based on the edge of Cambridgeshire, Hugh will scout and collect felled trees from as far away as Scotland or Devon if the quantity and quality is right, but he’ll never buy without viewing. He suggests woodland owners take photos of the trees and some basic measurements. For instance a farmer called him not so long ago saying that he had 21 standing trees only half an hour away. When the photos arrived they were mostly dead or dying trees on the edge of woods or in hedgerows. “Such trees are typically full of metal, but someone like that thinks he has value and will even get a felling licence. If he can’t get any money he’d be better leaving them and enjoying them.” If, however, a woodland owner can find 20 good trees there’s a chance he or she will be able to get rid of 20 bad ones at the same time, which won’t otherwise even cover the cost of being made into sleepers for gardens.


All about transport Ultimately, because trees are big, it’s about transport. Normally, he says, there will only be a few trees to take out of a small woodland, but it may be economical if there are a few small woods within an estate or local area


www.smallwoods.org.uk


Selling timber being such a challenging task for small woodlands, some owners have looked to other approaches to raise funds to cover the costs of management. Rod Waterfield and Chris Yarrow have developed woodland enterprises at the Woodland Skills Centre (above) and Wilderness Woods respectively, embracing everything from charcoal making to courses and even birthday parties in the woods. Both started small and have gradually grown as they have added further strings to their proverbial bow. Others, like Gudrun Leitz and


Mike Abbott, have used shared ownership to draw together multiple users of a wood, each helping to fund the woodland's existence through their passion and commitment and skills. SWA members like archers John and Beverly Chappell, use activities within their woods as a motivating force to look after the woodland and perhaps attract some voluntary help and even some funds. Pauline Betts has started a Christmas tree business on her 30 acres of neglected woodland in Dorset, while in Northamptonshire Carolyn and Hugh Ross (below) are producing coppice products.


that can be parcelled together and can be collected on the same day. He’s currently working with the owner of a 200ha woodland that has 30,000 tonnes of timber to be extracted over the next 20 years.


The hope for a small woodland is that its produce can be tagged onto a job being done with large estate, but you can’t help thinking that smaller bits of land don’t suit operations like Whippletree. The task of getting


Cutting up felled logs in a small wood in Glasgow (top) and working on neglected oak woodland in Hampshire


Spring 2010 Smallwoods 13


photo: fc photo library


photo: fc photo library


photo: fc photo library


photo: fc photo library


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