Deer Management: Threats to CCF principles from deer impacts, monitoring risk, management options and deer management delivery
With David Hooton

Following our most recent successful webinar we have now made a recording available on YouTube for anyone that missed it or would like to revisit: VIEW NOW ON YOUTUBE

National deer populations have increased in range and number over the past 70 years, with at least two species present across much of the country, in some areas 5 of the six species can be found. The impacts that deer have on a wide range of landscape objectives is widely understood as well as the consequent losses of habitat that has an effect on associated fauna and flora is widely understood. Deer need to be managed and this seminar will discuss the challenges with a widely spread deer population and the effect that deer browsing has and some of the solutions and management actions required, alongside monitoring that can be used to support landowners and foresters in managing woodlands and deer populations.

David Hooton Biography

David Hooton works for The Forestry Commission as an area Deer Officer, providing advice on sustainable Wild Deer Management to a wide range of stakeholders in the area, with a particular emphasis on supporting woodland creation applications, woodlands back into management, and venison supply chains alongside general deer management advice to a range of stakeholders. David’s main area of work covers East England and East Midlands.

David studied Game Wildlife and Habitat Management at Sparsholt College, Hampshire and on completing his course in 1992 worked for The Forestry Commission as a Wildlife Ranger managing wild deer at Thetford Forest. In 2003 a two year secondment was offered to work with The Deer Initiative to act as a coordinator for the Deer Vehicle Collisions Project. Project funding was extended allowing David to continue his role with the Deer Initiative and expand his job role to include deer management advice across the East and East Midlands. David worked with a wide range of stakeholders, providing advice on monitoring deer numbers and impacts and developing projects that supported landowners, deer managers and other stakeholders to manage wild deer to meet a wide range of landscape objectives. David joined the Forestry Commission as a Deer Officer in April 2020.

Please contact Michelle at administrator@ccfg.org.uk if you have any questions.

Pro Silva Annual Meeting Luxembourg 2022

 “Knowledge to the Foresters – Pro Silva as the knowledge hub for dissemination of Close to Nature Forestry”

Foresters from across the world convened in Luxembourg this week for the 2022 Annual Meeting of Pro Silva, the organisation which promotes close-to-nature-forestry (CTNF) across Europe. This three-day event had been postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year’s agenda was the most comprehensive yet, hosted by Pro Silva Luxembourg.

The meeting began on Wednesday with the Annual Board Meeting at Hotel Parc Belle-Vue in Luxembourg, where Pro Silva members discussed the current issues facing the sustainable management of European forests. For the first time, there was significant representation from Scandinavian and Baltic countries with new member Silva Ry from Finland, and participants from Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, and a new partnership with the International Forest Students Association (IFSA). Further afield, there was online participation from Brazil (ACEF), India (For EcoIndia), as well as Croatia, Portugal, Slovakia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“At long last, Pro Silva members will come together this week to discuss the unprecedented issues and opportunities we are facing as owners and managers of European forests. We are extremely grateful to Pro Silva Luxembourg for their generous hosting of our 25^th Annual Meeting, with an extensive programme exploring the themes of urban forestry, forest management and hydrology and the reconciliation of forestry, nature conservation and tourism. In 2017, at the Annual Meeting in Sibiu, Romania, we created the slogan ‘Transition to Transmission’ as a development task for Pro Silva looking forward. And now in Luxembourg in 2022, the main topic for discussion will be how Pro Silva can improve its function as a hub for the dissemination of science and evidence in close-to-nature forest management, which has been accumulated over 30 years since its inception in Slovenia in 1989” – Eckart Senitza, Chairman of Pro Silva.

Topics of discussion initiated by foresters in Luxembourg  included the conversion of monoculture plantations to uneven mixed forests; the restoration of the functions of forest soils, competition between Sessile oak and Beech, and the implementation of the ‘near-natural silviculture’ regulation. Also on the agenda was an update on the Pro Silva network of exemplary forests, which now totals 120 forest stands encompassing an area of 133,000 ha. These forests represent our best examples of close-to-nature forest management trajectories, providing the basis for data exchange and research, and a location for training and demonstration. Pro Silva Executive Assistant Anne Crespin will present the new CTNF training project under development at Forêt.Nature, and there were updates on other CTNF training initiatives across Europe including the Association Futaie Irrégulière in France, and ASKAFOR.

From the boreal pine forests of Northern Scandinavia to the Pyrenean oak woods of Spain and Portugal, we already have the experience in how to transform European forests to a more resilient state. The pressing task now is how to effectively communicate and demonstrate this knowledge base so that policymakers, forest owners, forest managers, students and even farmers across Europe are empowered to utilise their forest resource and maintain their vitality in the process.

Who we are

Pro Silva is a European organisation which promotes close to nature forestry and continuous cover forest systems. It was established in 1989 in Slovenia. At present there are 22 full members of the organisation and there are also several other countries with associate membership. Since 2018 we have associated members from the United States (Forest Stewards Guild, New England Forestry Foundation), from India (ForEco India), from Brazil (ACEF St. Catarina) and Canada (“Les Amis de la forêt Ouareau”) and hopefully this marks the beginning of the formation of a global network. More than 5500 professionals and forest owners are involved in Pro Silva.

Pro Silva promotes its principles and concepts through a Europe wide program of silvicultural education involving seminars and excursions. Increasingly the members are also involved as partners in national or international research and networking projects. A European network of best practice demonstration forests is being developed.

www.prosilva.org – www.prosilva.net – www.forestconservation.eu

30 Years of Applying CCF in Perthshire
With Charlie Taylor

Following our most recent successful webinar we have now made a recording available on YouTube for anyone that missed it or would like to revisit: VIEW NOW ON YOUTUBE

Charlie Taylor is currently Strategic Planning Manager for Forestry and Land Scotland. Prior to this, for nearly 30 years, he was Forest District Manager in Tay Forest District through the various incarnations of the Forestry Commission during that time. He led a large team tasked with looking after 38,000 ha of the national forests across Perth & Kinross, Angus, Dundee and north-east Fife. This included large operational programmes (e.g. 100,000m3 of clearfelling and 70,000m3 of thinning), a Forest Park, a Woodland Park, 6 Special Areas for Conservation, 13 SSSI sites, numerous cultural heritage sites and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders.

Before moving to Tay he was a Siviculture Project Leader in Forest Research, based at the Northern Research Station. Although initially focussed on forest nutrition, the portfolio of projects expanded to include species trials and agroforestry experiments spread across the uplands of Britain. The silvicultural experience gained during this time provided the drive to initiate the large-scale development of CCF in the national forests in Scotland. The proposed commitment of over 250ha in Craigvinean Forest near Dunkeld to CCF in 1991 required a full Forestry Commission (GB) Board meeting on site to agree this first major exception to the policy prevailing at that time.

Over the next three decades the area committed to CCF rolled out to many other forests across the District. Sustaining the thinning and cleaning programme to deliver this proved challenging due to the vagaries of the timber market, the scale of the programmes, scattered nature of regneration, contractor skills and turnover of staff.

Please contact Michelle at administrator@ccfg.org.uk if you have any questions.

Freestyle Silviculture in Slovenia
With Professor Jurij Diaci

Following our most recent successful webinar we have now made a recording available on YouTube for anyone that missed it or would like to revisit: VIEW NOW ON YOUTUBE

Professor Jurij Diaci is head of the Department of Silviculture at the Department of Forestry, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in forestry from the University of Ljubljana and a PhD from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He gained practical experience in silviculture while working in the Nazarje mountain region in the Savinja Alps. 

His research work is in the field of forest ecology and silviculture, with emphasis on old-growth forests and uneven-aged mixed managed forests. He is interested in forest response and adaptation to climate change, as well as the scientific basis for close-to-nature, ecological forestry. He has led more than 20 national research projects, participated in several international projects (e.g., BEAR, NATMAN, LISS, ONEforest), and is fascinated with networking science and practice. 

He has written and edited several books and published more than 80 scientific articles. He has served as a board member of the international association Pro Silva and is chairman of the board of the Pahernik Foundation, which manages 630 hectares of forest that has been managed in a close-to-nature approach for more than 100 years.

Please contact Michelle at administrator@ccfg.org.uk if you have any questions.

CCFG will be hosting their next webinar: Freestyle silviculture in Slovenia – with Professor Jurij Daici 24th March 2022 4pm – 5pm

This online event is hosted by CCFG featuring Professor Jurij Daici who will deliver a 30 minute presentation on this topic. This will be followed by a question and answer session for participants.

Professor Jurij Diaci is head of the Department of Silviculture at the Department of Forestry, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in forestry from the University of Ljubljana and a PhD from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He gained practical experience in silviculture while working in the Nazarje mountain region in the Savinja Alps. 

His research work is in the field of forest ecology and silviculture, with emphasis on old-growth forests and uneven-aged mixed managed forests. He is interested in forest response and adaptation to climate change, as well as the scientific basis for close-to-nature, ecological forestry. He has led more than 20 national research projects, participated in several international projects (e.g., BEAR, NATMAN, LISS, ONEforest), and is fascinated with networking science and practice. 

He has written and edited several books and published more than 80 scientific articles. He has served as a board member of the international association Pro Silva and is chairman of the board of the Pahernik Foundation, which manages 630 hectares of forest that has been managed in a close-to-nature approach for more than 100 years.

Using Forest Development Types to Implement CCF
With Dr Jens Haufe, (Forest Research)

Following our sixth successful webinar we have now made a recording available on YouTube for anyone that missed it or would like to revisit: VIEW NOW ON YOUTUBE

Dr Jens Haufe is the Head of Technical Development branch, Forest Research and is based in Ae, Scotland. His main role is a silvicultural trainer/advisor and many professional foresters will have attended one of his courses. Before joining the Forestry Commission he worked at Bangor University on the Tyfiant Coed project.

Please contact Michelle at administrator@ccfg.org.uk if you have any questions.

Our AGM is due to be held on Wednesday 17th February 2021, at 1pm via online platform Zoom. If you would like to attend please book your space through Ticket Tailor: BOOK NOW

Please contact administrator@ccfg.org.uk with your apologies if you wish to.

All members are welcome!

Kind regards

The CCFG Committee

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