Our Early Career Professionals Study Tour 2024 took place on 2 and 3 July where a group of early career professionals travelled across various estates and woodlands in Devon. The tour offered practical insights into forestry management, the importance of collaboration, and information regarding existing models for carbon finance, biodiversity net gain, and further investment opportunities. Natalie Meiklejohn, Woodland Carbon Code Co-ordinator at Scottish Forestry, attended the Study Tour and has reported back with some key insights.
Session one: Cruwys Morchard
The first session began at Cruwys Morchard, a mixed-use estate spanning 1,500 acres, which has been in the same family for 950 years. Will Moreton, the leaseholder who manages the shoot on site, and Felix Gregory MICFor, Senior Forest Manager at South West Woodland Management, guided the visit. They highlighted the benefits of diversifying income streams for the estate and illustrated how forestry and game management can work together for mutual benefit.
Will stressed the importance of communication between the shoot and foresters, not only during the planning and conception phases but also during management and harvesting. For example, gamekeepers need advance notice of clearfelling to plan accordingly.
The group explored a valley in the middle of the shoot, with a mix of open ground, shrubs, and canopy, ideal for the pheasant release stage. The terrain needed to be steep, with accessible open ground at the bottom. Following this was a visit to a ten-hectare woodland creation area which was suffering damage from pests. Will explained how the gamekeeper actively manages grey squirrel populations on site, having culled 10,00 in the past two years to protect broadleaf trees.
Lastly, the group visited an area previously used to grow cover crops for pheasants, now transitioning to tree planting. Will explained how the cover crops and trees can coexist for several years as the trees establish into a commercial stand. This shared land use is more efficient than completely cutting off parts of the land from the shoot. The planting design was done in collaboration with the shoot to ensure favourable movement paths for the pheasants.
Session two: James Wood
The second site, James Wood, is owned by Woodland Heritage, a charity established by a group of traditional cabinet makers to collectively improve the way in which trees are grown, maintained and harvested in the UK. The group champions the use of home-grown timber to increase domestic supply, particularly in the light of projected global timber shortages. The site spans 34 hectares and features a mix of existing woodland, woodland creation, and direct seeding. A tour of the site was led by John Orchard, the Chief Executive of Woodland Heritage, and Forest Manager, Norbert Kovacs MICFor, from Pryor & Rickett Silviculture. The site hosts 39 different species but faces issues with ash dieback, deer and squirrel damage.
Norbert explained the challenges of navigating the grant system and the complexities of the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) scheme, which impacts foresters. He noted that the biggest barrier to woodland creation investment is the uncertainty faced by landowners regarding green finance schemes, including payment timing, ongoing liability, and the interaction of BNG with existing grants and the Woodland Carbon Code (WCC). Despite record-high grant schemes, the cost of woodland creation exceeds available funding, which poses challenges for woodland creation in the long term.
Session three: Knightshayes
The third visit was to Knightshayes, a 350-acre National Trust estate that receives around 150,000 visitors annually. Rangers from the National Trust, led by Sam Tyson – Lead Ranger (Knightshayes Court), guided the group through the site, which has a rich history, including a Roman fortress and a former deer park for the Earl of Devon.
Sam discussed managing the tensions between the old tree collection, public access, and the maintenance of the estate’s historical aesthetic. The site is a registered park and garden, requiring high visual standards, which sometimes complicates the ranger’s ability to implement management interventions. Parts of the site are also dealing with ash dieback, which has been challenging to manage with high levels of public access.
The group toured the Walled Kitchen Garden, which was currently being used for propagation, but with plans to create a fully productive kitchen garden over time. The National Trust are committed to reducing emissions, and are aiming to make their supply chain Peat Free. This poses challenges in sourcing trees, as most nurseries still use peat as a fertiliser.
The National Trust have also committed to planting 20 million trees by 2030, to increase carbon capture and link areas of priority habitat to improve biodiversity. However, a recent audit has shown that the current trajectory needs to increase by about four-fold to meet this target. Sam stressed that agroforestry grants will be essential to meet these goals, as much of the land owned by the National Trust sits with tenant farmers, so the right incentives are key to further woodland creation and restoration. Finally, Sam touched on how nature markets are a somewhat challenging space for the National Trust, and other nature-focused NGOs. The National Trust plan to only use schemes such as BNG and the WCC for insetting their own emissions and development, rather than selling credits.
Session four: Bickleigh Wood
The final session was led by Alex MacKinnon from Tilhill at an 80-hectare site, Bickleigh Wood, planted predominantly with Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce. Alex explained some of the finer details of the WCC, particularly the ‘additionality test’, the test used to ensure that a project represents carbon sequestration above and beyond what would have occurred without the addition of carbon funding.
Alex outlined some of the common misconceptions around the Woodland Carbon Code, particularly highlighting the distinction between green finance and a traditional grant scheme. He stressed that whilst there are improvements which could be made to the scheme, controls such as the additionality test exist to ensure the high integrity of the UK carbon market, which ultimately dictates the price of carbon units.
An in-depth discussion followed on potential improvements to the additionality test, considering the growing cost of woodland creation. Uncertainties in the carbon market, such as insurance policies, ongoing liabilities, and interactions with BNG and other emerging nature markets, were key topics. The group explored the potential for clients to forego grant funding to participate in the carbon market and the associated risks and trade-offs.
As an interesting aside, Alex showed the group where the previous site owner had installed a deer fence around a small area of woodland. The difference between this and the surrounding woodland was quite striking, and demonstrated the impact of deer on vegetation in the area.
