Bushcraft for the Future.

[bushbasher]

I had an idea for a project recently and would like to know if anyone has heard of a similar scheme anywhere.

My idea was inspired while looking for suitable land for my courses on Gower in south wales. Everywhere I looked there were plenty of trees but they all seemed to be on a 45 degree slope or they were in marshland by streams and rivers.

Any ground that was flat and well drained had long ago been turned into agricultural land or Tesco car parks. A depressing picture I'm sure you will agree, but it did get me thinking. What if a charity could be registered to raise funds for the purchase of Farmland? The land could be replanted with native trees Oak Yew etc.. Which would eventually become prime native Forrest and Bushcraft territory. The Trees could be protected from commercial logging and Urban sprawl by designating the Woodland as National Park for the benefit of the Nation.

School kids could be recruited to help with the planting thereby giving them an opportunity to invest in their own futures.

Do you think it would work? Im sure there are plenty of problems to overcome first but what a great legacy it would be if large sections of the countryside could be returned to Native woodland much as it would have been 5 thousand years ago.

What do you think? Am I losing it or becoming overly romantic in my old age.

 

[spamel]

I believe there were plans to do this in Scotland, it was going to be a very large woodland area aswell, IIRC. Also, I seem to remember a famous person, can't remember who, saying that when he dies, his fortune will be used to create a massive forest that will be named after him!! A bit egocentric, but it would be good for us. I can't remember who it was though, shame or we could have got a hitman around to get the ball rolling!!!

Spamel

 

[Toddy]

No it's not a daft idea, and yes, it is being done up here, bit of a mixed success in some areas though. Many of the volunteer forestry groups are worried now because the freedom to roam doesn't only attract responsible people, ask Bothyman about his front garden!
Some links

http://www.csft.org.uk/
http://www.scottishforestalliance.org.uk/default.asp
http://www.scotlandswoods.org.uk/home_frames.html
http://www.community-woods.org.uk/

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Bardster]

Its being done here in Kent too - White Horse Wood has been extensively replanted
http://www.kent.gov.uk/sp/countrysideaccess/parks/WhiteHorseWoodCountryPark.html

 

[BorderReiver]

This one too

http://www.bordersforesttrust.org/

The more the merrier

 

[pumbaa]

I think that this could potentialy be a good idea , but have a few reservations .
Firstly cost , there were two 6 acre sites for sale in dorset for about £30 000 each . It could prove very expensive to obtain a big enough area !
And lastly , who would look after it long term ? Some of the organisations put restrictions on what you can do there , prime example is fire ! I realise that some people are likely to burn it down , but fire is a part of living in the woods .
Pumbaa

 

[chris chris]

I believe you've been beaten to idea by about 101 differant organisations - nice try and back to the drawing board.

 

[Fluxus]

The Forestry Commission are launching the new woodland grant scheme for england very soon. Depending on the type of land and what you want to plant / how you want to manage it it may be possible to purchase the land and do the planting and management for little more than the grant available. If borrowing cash for land purchase build in 15 years interest into your calculations as the grants are triclked through ( to stop people planting one year, claiming the cash and then ploughing it up the next year). Its very complicated and a quite risky (eg. if too many trees die and arent replaced the commission could claw back the grant paid as you would have breached your contract). But with a clever, friendly forestry consultant behind you, you could end up with a new native woodland for nothing.

remember size isn't everything - a couple of acres can seem pretty big when youre beating your way through an unthinned 15 yr old plantation.

 

[Tantalus]

some nice ideas there fluxus but i fear blanket planting is not really a solution as you say yourself

remember size isn't everything - a couple of acres can seem pretty big when youre beating your way through an unthinned 15 yr old plantation.

nature rarely creates forest in this way, but tends much more towards a patchwork of different ages. As one patch of trees die another sprouts in the sunny patches left by the last "die off" creating not a plant and harvest cycle like a field of wheat but much more of a complex system.

Like many plans i fear this one is doomed by lack of foresight and excessive profit motive

Planting smaller patches and maintaining them in manageable groups is a more realistic approach

Tant

 

[Moonraker]

bushbasher, I say for it! If only everyone had such romantic dreams Britain would be a greener place

The largest such initiative is the Government backed Community Forest project. There are links there to the various regional Community Forest sites.

As others have pointed out there are quite a lot of grant options available for such initiatives which would help with initial and longer term management. On a small scale you can achieve a lot and there is not just grant aid but lots of advice available too in planning the management etc.

Personally I would put up a decent fence around the perimeter to deter grazing animals and leave it be for 10 years. When you come back you will be amazed at what Nature can do on her own. After all, the majority of the land would revert back to it's original climax vegetation of oak, ash and beech woodland. And with a little helping hand, you can introduce more diversity through human intervention using traditional woodland management techniques such as coppicing, hedging, cropping timber etc.

For inspiration either get hold of a copy, or read the online version of this superb book which says a lot, not just about sowing seeds, but also planting ideas

The Man Who Planted Trees - Jean Giono

as they say, Mighty oaks from little acorns grow ......

Good luck with it.

 

[R-Bowskill]

For the last four or five years I've been creating a bit of woodland, about 5 acres on a 40 acre plot, most of the trees are Ash, Hazel, Oak, Hornbeam, Hawthorn and Yew with a few others such as horse chestnut, wild service, blackthorn, holly and crab apple scattered among them. I deliberately avoided straight lines by planting clumps of between 3 and 7 of one species then a clump of another. There are now lots of self sown willows coming up. It's just starting to look like there is a new wood there rather than a load of tree guards so even one person planting one morning a week can make a native species wood although as they say the right time to plant a tree is ten years ago.

I'd definately say that the idea is doable, and worthwhile although it does take a bit of work and time.

 

[Fluxus]

Like many plans i fear this one is doomed by lack of foresight and excessive profit motive

Tant

PROFIT? in forestry in the uk? surely some mistake!

 

[Moonraker]

PROFIT? in forestry in the uk? surely some mistake!

Unless you are a rockstar with nice tax breaks of course From the Financial Times web site:

How about buying a forest? There are tax advantages to buying woodland. Income from commercially-managed forests is exempt from income tax, and CGT is only paid on profit from the sale of the bare land. If the asset is owned for more than two years, the value of the forest will qualify for 100 per cent business property relief from IHT.

source: FT-Are any tax breaks left?

 

[demographic]

If you pland trees that are native to this country you also get grants for doing it, not all the money but it helps.

 

[bushbasher]

Just because it's been done before doesn't mean its a bad idea. Great minds and all that.

I believe you've been beaten to idea by about 101 differant organisations - nice try and back to the drawing board.

 

[bushbasher]

I'm definately with you on that one. Trees planted in neat rows are only slightly better than no Trees at all.

I suppose theres no time like the present to start planting.

For the last four or five years I've been creating a bit of woodland, about 5 acres on a 40 acre plot, most of the trees are Ash, Hazel, Oak, Hornbeam, Hawthorn and Yew with a few others such as horse chestnut, wild service, blackthorn, holly and crab apple scattered among them. I deliberately avoided straight lines by planting clumps of between 3 and 7 of one species then a clump of another. There are now lots of self sown willows coming up. It's just starting to look like there is a new wood there rather than a load of tree guards so even one person planting one morning a week can make a native species wood although as they say the right time to plant a tree is ten years ago.

I'd definately say that the idea is doable, and worthwhile although it does take a bit of work and time.

 

[Fallow Way]

Glad to see someone is actually aware of the Community Forest project I`m one of the foresters for it and can certainly say we`ve planted the odd tree here or there (odd thousand).

I have to agree with any sentiments regarding straight lines, personally I hate it, however there are reasons.

When you are planting thousands upon thousands of trees and you have to time manage for all the work, the efficiency at which the work can be done is obviously high on the list. What eventually happens for those that do not know, is that these are thinned out gradually over time so by the time the woodland is approaching the 15 year mark the lines are so broken up, you only really notice them if your looking for them.

I spend time every week walking along line after line checking on these buding woodlands and I think they look horrible, too clinical by miles, but at the end of the day, the result is worth it.

Personally I agree with planting much more `naturally`, unrythemiclly and sporadic, I wold liek to go one ste furuther and see sites left compleetly to natural regeneration, but these opporunties are few and far between

 

[R-Bowskill]

I understand the reasons for straight line planting, it is alot faster and maintainance / commercial harvesting is easier. There is also a bushcraft reason in that often the lines are spaced about the right distance apart for a hammock and basha. On a larger planting it is possible to avoid the miles of straight lines by having some lines run in a different direction depending on things like contours etc.

It does seem that quite a few people are thingking of either buying woodland or creating it. As for the hundreds of organisations that are involved in woodland preservation and creation the thing that makes the suggested gorup different is the bushcraft element. How many of those trusts and charities allow people to camp in thier woods, gather wild food and gasp shock horror use knives and light a fire?

I'm sure that anyone setting up such a group will be able to save on the consultancy fees by using the knowledge and experience of people on this site which could in itself allowthem to get another couple of acres.

 

[Moonraker]

Good points RB.

It reminds me of the various uses woodland sites are now being used for including memorial woodlands/woodland cemeteries such as this one near Bristol.

There would be many interesting design considerations for a 'Bushcraft Woodland' such as species choice (birch bark for firecraft and canoes, yew for bows etc), edible plants (sweet chestnuts, hazels,mushrooms! etc), source of water (stream, pond), hammock trees, weaving materials, flinty soil, communal structure ....

Now I have my landscape architect head on