Woodland Custodianship

[Broch]

Nah, nobody 'borrows' mine -I'll occasionally go and haul something out of a tricky position but I don't trust others with kit like this.

I have 50m rope - long enough for my needs. I also bought the 'nose cone'; it helps a lot in scrubby woodland where logs can get really snagged on stuff like bramble. I use a choker chain at the log end to save the rope and shackles rubbing along the ground. Other than that all my kit is from 4x4 recovery days - all rated so I know its limits. The snatch block/pulley is useful when you are on the load limit; it easily doubles your pulling capacity at the cost of speed of winching, or it allows an offset pull when there's not a clear line to haul the stuff out along.

 

[Broch]

We just spent an enjoyable afternoon down at the hut. We've been away for a while and this was the first chance I've had to get down there. It's nice to go down with the sole intention of chilling out as opposed to having a list of tasks to do; so we took a bottle of Prosecco and a picnic tea with us

I know most people like the earlier spring show of woodland with bluebells, wood anemone, primroses and all the other spring flowers, and we did have an impressive show this year, but I like this time of year. Everything is lush and verdant and the whole wood takes on a more primeval look and feel with ferns taking over where bluebells were standing only a few weeks ago.



This very small seedling is the only Yew in the wood or even for miles around as far as I'm aware. I've no idea how it got here but I'll be long dead before it grows to be a mature tree; I hope to see it to about 2m (that will take about 12 years ). I need to put some protection around it.



This pretty little flower is in blossom throughout the wood at the moment and I think is every bit as lovely as the more showy plants earlier in the season. It's Enchanter's Nightshade (Circaea lutetiana) and is an Ancient Woodland Indicator Species. It is said to have been used by the Vikings to cure 'Elf-Shot'

 

[slowworm]

It's that time of year when I need to clear up some more of the fallen / dangerous trees. This alder has gradually fallen over due to the stream behind it eroding the bank. The top was partially hung up so I was a bit unsure of the compression and tension in the trunk. The trunk also had a split running up to worry about so I cut a wedge out the top and bottom before severing and all went well. Just over 20" where cut, so plenty more firewood.

 

[TLM]

A worry: I might have Heterobasidion annosum fungus in some parts of my lot. Next to impossible to get rid of. The standard cure is to cut off all pines and spruces in the area and and let birch to conquer and then wait. Not an idea I like. Have to be careful when cutting anything in the dry season and hope, I guess.

 

[Broch]

That doesn't sound good
I thought you used Rotstop over there? Advice here is to grub up all felled stumps.

 

[TLM]

The idea of stump treatment is to stop the spread to new root systems, it does not stop or eradicate existing fungus.

 

[Broch]

Custodianship Succession

I thought I'd add this thinking to this thread rather than start a new one because I think it's very relevant to all of us that put time and money into managing and improving woodland (or any other habitat at that matter). It's a subject that has been weighing on my mind for a while:

What happens when I'm gone?

Will all my effort be reduced to worthless?

Should I just be satisfied that the work I have done has improved biodiversity albeit temporarily?

Or is there a better, long term, solution?

The first thing I can do is brush down my management plan and make sure it's clear to any future custodian what I have done and why I did it. If I make sure the plan addresses the future there will be a good chance that people will at least give it consideration.

But, what can I do in terms of a legal framework. Have any of you looked into or have experience of putting land into trust? Are there any alternatives to safeguard the land?

I'd appreciate your thoughts

 

[Tengu]

An interesting turn of thought.

I sometimes consider future users in my study. once handed over a text to a museum

"Why do we need this?"

"You have a rare artefact I have made a study of; future scholars will be grateful"

 

[dnarcher]

I just think we should do what good deeds we can as we pass through. Like the seedlings we plant, some will wither, but others will florish into mighty glades, and we will never know the difference. But the more good, tge better the chances.

 

[Broch]

Yeh, I agree to some extent. But, if there are ways to protect a site I'd like to investigate the possibility.

 

[ijohnson]

Spotted a story yesterday on the BBC about a woodland that became a red squirrel sanctuary by accident, but the couple who owned it became really passionate about it. Now they are dead the son is trying to sell it for half a million!
So perhaps some succession planning is a good idea!

 

[bearbait]

If you have some species of interest on your ground then perhaps donation to a local Wildlife Trust could be in order? If so, then a chat and a walk round with one or two of their officers may be helpful to determine their interest?

 

[slowworm]

I thought I'd add this thinking to this thread rather than start a new one because I think it's very relevant to all of us that put time and money into managing and improving woodland (or any other habitat at that matter).

It would have made a good new thread. I've often thought about what happens to our woodland and home when we're gone (well, sprinkled about the place).

Firstly our plans are to sell our small plot of woodland when we can no longer look after it. One of the main considerations though will be the harsh tax treatment so we may have to look at getting more of a return from cutting a fair bit of wood from it to use/sell and then selling what's left. Not ideal for nature but needs must.

I'd like to sell it on as a small working / amenity wood to like minded people. So I plan to keep things manageable and will also update our management plan and create a folder of pics, useful details, observations etc. Hopefully that would help us sell it and provide useful to a new owner.

I don't think we'd put any restrictions on it, I know some people would want to clear fell one part and return it to grassland. I suppose that'll up to the new owner as they may know more than us?

Our house is a bit different. The 2 acres of unimproved grass around it are becoming increasingly rare and the fact we don't flail the hedges to death each spring means it is overflowing with birds and other wild life. It would be nice to at least encourage new owners to not rip everything up but I don't know how to go about it. You sort of need a TPO for fields.

At least the fields are hard to access and quite slopey so are unlikely to be farmed with big machinery or ideal for horses. They are also slowly filling with some decent sized ant hills.

 

[Broch]

Research so far suggests a conservation covenant or transfer (gift or sell) with restrictive covenants. But, conservation covenants aren't currently used in Wales! A lot more studying to do and maybe some legal advice.

One problem is I don't want to leave a burden for the kids but if I ask them if they want it they'll say yes anyway because they think that's what I want

 

[slowworm]

Who will enforce the covenant when you're gone? I thought they are only of use when something (company/person) wants to control what's done with land they've sold, such as a property developer.

 

[Broch]

From what I can ascertain, a conservation covenant has been available in England since 2021 and is a legally binding agreement tied to the land. It is continuous even when the land is sold.

It has to be enforced by a responsible body such as the Woodland Trust, a Wildlife Trust, or the National Trust.

However, it has not yet been adopted in Wales.

 

[slowworm]

Curious, what would be in it for them? I assume you would need to pay them? And what happens when the organisation disagrees with your covenant?

 

[Broch]

Good question. It's supposed to be a legally binding contract that allows the trusts to take responsibility for how privately owned habitat is maintained - I'm still trying to get my head around the detail.

 

[slowworm]

I potted these oaks up the other week, hopefully they will be an addition to our woodland. A few years ago I planted 100+ acorns in a field and not a single one came up. I noted someone mention to only collect acorns that are still green when they've all fallen. I did that and put a load in a pot of compost and overwintered it in the greenhouse with a wire cover. Come spring and I think every single acorn had germinated.

 

[Broch]

They look good.

I would like to try and propagate Aspen as a potential replacement for the Ash we're losing. We have a few in the wood and they sucker easily but each sucker is a clone of the parent and to get decent genetic variation one has to introduce Aspen from elsewhere

The short section in this recent episode of Landward (think Scottish version of Country File but, in my opinion, better) makes interesting watching. The relevant part starts at around 05:36 minutes into the video.

Landward - 2025: Episode 23 - BBC iPlayer