CCFG will be hosting their next webinar: Applying CCF on Steep Ground & with Big Trees – with Gareth Browning (Forestry England) 24th June 2021 4pm – 5pm

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

Gareth Browning lives with his family in Cockermouth in North West Cumbria and works as a Forester with Forestry England looking after the forests and valleys around Keswick, Cockermouth, and Ennerdale. With over 30 years of working in North Cumbria Gareth has built up much experience in managing forests on steep ground with high public visibility and access to support multiple public benefits. He has experimented with using Continuous Cover techniques on steep ground and with large trees and multi storeys since the mid 1990’s. In addition to his expertise in Continuous Cover Forestry Gareth is a founding partner in Wild Ennerdale, a leading landscape scale rewilding partnership where he has developed expertise in natural process led nature recovery.

Out of his role as a forester Gareth enjoys biking, kayaking, travel and photography and is part of the Leadership team of Christ Church in Cockermouth.

 

Using CCF in Even-Aged Spruce plantations
With Phil Morgan, (Sustainable Forest Management and SelectFor)

CCFG will be hosting their next webinar: Applying CCF in Even-aged Spruce Plantations – with Phil Morgan (Sustainable Forest Management and SelectFor) 20th May 2021 4pm – 5pm

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

Phil Morgan is one of the leading British experts in continuous cover forestry. He is a director of both Sustainable Forest Management and SelectFor and has been a Fellow of the ICF since 2003. During his career he has worked in the Far East, Europe and North America. He now lives in Wales where his efforts are focused on the transformation of upland coniferous plantations to highly productive mixed continuous cover forests.

He was a previous chairman of CCFG and president of Pro Silva. He is now the vice-president of the AFI and chairman of the Irregular Silviculture Network (ISN). He runs the network of AFI research stands in the UK and Ireland and is developing a network of ISN monitoring plots, forest inventories and marteloscopes in Wales.

 

Using CCF in Ancient Woodland Restoration
With Adam Thorogood, Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust Wales)

CCFG will be hosting their first in a series of Webinars on 22nd April 2021 4pm – 5pm to promote the use of Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF).

This online event was hosted by CCFG featuring Adam Thorogood who delivered a 30 minute presentation around the subject matter. This was followed by a question and answer session for participants.

Adam works for Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust Wales) as a Woodland Outreach Advisor. His core work is to collaborate with woodland owners in order to bring Planted Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) into management. Where possible this involves transformation to an irregular forest structure and he has found that the objectives of restoration often work in parallel with those of transformation. He is part of the team managing Allt Boeth in the Rheidol valley, where CCF is being used to gradually restore a 22 hectare PAWS to native broadleaves. 

Before working for Coed Cadw, Adam worked for Llais y Goedwig on the StarTree EU-funded research project, looking at silviculture and supply chains for non-timber forest products in Wales, he also worked as a forestry contractor on a number of sites in the Dyfi Valley, Wales, carrying out thinning operations in PAWS and ASNW. He holds an Masters in Forestry from Bangor University and owns a 12 hectare PAWS, Coed Esgair Las, with 6 other partners, where the principles of CCF underpin the management approach.

 

CCFG members may be aware of the recent report on ‘Biodiversity, Forestry and Wood’ published by Confor in July 2020. Unfortunately, this report makes some statements about the potential role of CCF in British forests which are not supported by the evidence. We have therefore prepared a short paper setting out our criticisms of these aspects of the report which can be found here. We hope that you find this paper helpful and please let us know if you have any questions or comments.

 

The Forestry Commission published this guide to help local authorities and landowning businesses achieve net zero greenhouse gases. You can read it here.

Phil Morgan from Sustainable Forest Management and SelectFor discusses in this webinar (delivered in June 2020) silvicultural methodologies, with an emphasis on Continious Cover Forestry (CCF) and Planted Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS). The webinar provides an insight into the concept of CCF and management techniques, for new and current woodland owners. It is also an opportunity to discover and learn how to transform your woodland into one that can provide an income whilst developing into a sustainably thriving woodland for the future. Webinar

Forests in the eastern United States that are structurally complex—meaning the arrangement of vegetation is highly varied—sequester more carbon, according to a new study led by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University. The study demonstrates for the first time that a forest’s structural complexity is a better predictor of carbon sequestration potential than tree species diversity. The discovery may hold implications for the mitigation of climate change. Read the article in full here.

Several Bangor University students recently attended the CCFG Foreign Study Tour to Italy. In advance of a detailed report coming soon in our newsletter, Bangor University have published a short news item.