On Thursday 31 March Shireen Chambers MBE FICFor chaired a fascinating panel discussion at the Accelerating Woodland Creation 2022 conference on how to balance different purposes for woodland in the landscape.
The panel were quick to emphasise that we need woods of all kinds and for all purposes, and the key will be working together rather than in competition. Discussions at the rest of the conference were wide-ranging, grappling with ambitious planting targets, the challenges of measuring progress, opportunities in private finance, regulatory obstacles, the importance of collaboration and much more, with some excellent case studies and varied perspectives. Other Institute members contributing to the conference included Dougal Driver FICFor, Dominic Driver FICFor, Andrew Sowerby FICFor and Peter Chappell MICFor.
Richard Stanford CB MBE, Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, drew the day to a close with confidence that we can meet the much-discussed targets but only with political leadership, clarity from the top and by working together. He set out and discussed the three ‘ingredients’ for growing trees – land, skilled labour and seed/sapling supply – and talked about ‘right tree, right place, right reason’, saying that UKFS is there to guide us on the right tree, and there is no such thing as a wrong reason to plant a tree, so we must focus on the right place. He emphasised the importance of managing squirrels and deer, continuing to work on reducing the burden on applicants and keeping regulation as low as possible.
In England and Wales we are keenly aware of the enormous challenge of meeting planting targets – crucially while ensuring new woodland is properly established and delivers for whatever its objectives, and bringing more woods into management – but with the considerable expertise and positive attitude of all the speakers, the conference closed in a spirit of optimism.
