Meeting 1. Tuesday 23 April 2024 The New Forest, Hampshire

Theme: How climate change and biodiversity imperatives impact forest management

By kind permission of Forestry England

Invited guest: Dr Mark Broadmeadow

We start our year’s study meeting in Deofrith Lodge, Lyndhurst, for a presentation by Dr Mark Broadmeadow, FC’s Climate Scientist, updating us on climate change issues and sustainability before making the site visits with the New Forest. The New Forest is not only a national park but has several international designations affecting its management. Also as a timber producing forest which attracts huge recreational usage there are, increasingly, trade-offs between priorities. We will visit a former 20 ha pine plantation that was felled in 2022 and now being restored to heathland. How is biodiversity reconciled with need for timber production and how can silviculture best deliver the multiple objectives? Local interest ranges from support to surprise that such a step has been taken! We will also visit sites where re-meandering of streams is ’slowing the flow’ and increasing the area of wetland for biodiversity. This intervention is often ‘correcting’ the attempts in Victorian times to accelerate drainage. How does this sit with modern silviculture and will more such initiatives been needed as storms and floods increase owing the climate change?

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Meeting 2. Wednesday 12 June 2024

Isle of Wight

Theme: Silviculture in woods free of deer and grey squirrels and with a mild climate

By kind permission of Forestry England

Invited guest: TBC

The Isle of Wight has a unique microclimate owing to its location and silviculturally the absence of key mammals greatly influences ground flora and tree protection needs. In addition the island has the potential to support growth of exotic species which may inform options for the future owing to climate change. Two or three sites will be visited, including FE’s Parkhurst Woods, to look at regeneration, and small plots of eucalyptus and Pinus radiata. Contrasts will be drawn with woodland ecosystems on the mainland. One key question is marketing of produce, particularly timber, as export costs are prohibitive. The benefits - and challenges - from lack of browsing are points of discussion with FE staff past and present to give added context. The sites have mixed natural regeneration of native broadleaves and productive conifers, with potential for coppice to be brought back into rotation and hence readily into production without the need for protection, but what about markets and sustainability?

We will be introducing a booking system for this visit (similar to the one used during Covid) and I will send out details shortly. To ensure that individual members get a fair opportunity to book, corporate members may be further restricted.

Pre-meeting notes:

Meeting 3. Wednesday 16th July 2024

Perridge Estate, Devon

Theme: Climate Change Adaptation of Forests on a Private Estate

By kind permission of Sir Harry Studholme

Invited Guest: Stephen Bathgate – Forest Research

Perridge Estate has been in the vanguard of understanding how forestry must adapt to the challenge of climate change. In 2021 the estate was a joint winner in the RFS All-England Woodland Resilience Award for its pioneering work. The visit by the WSG is a great opportunity to see the work at first hand and we will be guided round by Chris Marrow, a key WSG member, who manages the forests. We are also very fortunate that Sir Harry Studholme, owner of the estate and ex-Chair of the Forestry Commission will join us for the day. The invited speaker is Stephen Bathgate from Forest Research who has led work on Ecological Site Classification. He will explain how the ESC Decision Support System can help forest managers develop resilience. It promises to be an informative and enjoyable day.

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Meeting 4. 11th September 2024

Vernditch (Cranbourne Chase)

Theme: Building climate resilience in a relatively even aged, low species diversity woodland.

By kind permission of Forestry England.

Invited guest Elenor Tew, (TBC)

Vernditch is located 4km south of the village of Broadchalk and is within the Cranbourne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB. It totals 56ha of which 35ha is designated ancient semi natural woodland and 10ha of PAWS. It sits on Chalk with small pockets of Clay with Flints. There are two scheduled monuments, a neolithic long barrow and the Grims ditch, an ancient boundary network along with a roman road just outside the wood to the west. Vernditch was previously managed by Rolf Gardiner who was internationally recognised for his farming and forestry expertise alongside many other pursuits, who planted much of the Beech now present on site and subsequently donated Vernditch, along with Stonedown to the West, to the Forestry Commission in the early 1970s. Vernditch supports a range of plant, bird, insect and mammal species associated with ancient woodland and open downland. Recent years have seen Vernditch managed to grow and improve the quality of the Beech along with areas with Ash and Conifers such as Norway Spruce and Japanese Larch. Beech is still by far the most dominant species and the majority is aged 50 – 100 years. Ash Dieback and removal of conifer for PAWS restoration have further reduced the current species diversity. Through deer and squirrel control there is excellent beech and sycamore regeneration present in the understory. Recent interventions have been focused on encouraging and releasing this regeneration but with climate predictions for the next 100 years looking rather sub optimal for these species, more needs to be done to build climate and pest/disease resilience within the woodland while balancing the needs of the protected species on site and the ancient woodland designation. This visit will explore the current woodland structure and recent interventions and look to discuss what direction we will head in the future and the challenges raised by that.

This meeting will include the AGM

Pre-meeting notes: