Design and Management for Woods and Wildlife – event summary

There was great feedback from those who attended our event on Thursday 29th June.

Here are a few key points from the day:

Our host, Alan Twatt, explained why he decided to take poorer quality land out of agriculture to create a shoot and productive woodlands.  The woods are now 25 years old and people were inspired by how they have developed. They are now of considerable value to wildlife with a large population of redpolls. We also considered how things are done differently today and how common problems can be avoided

The woodland walk demonstrated the benefits of pruning; the importance of timely thinning to achieve a high value final crop; species selection and constraints caused by diseases; linkage of habitats and forest habitat networks, importance of woodland edge design, hedge row management and pond creation.

Local contractor Stuart Munro demonstrated a harvesting machine and we discussed  how smaller woods can be economically harvested.

Good grants are available for woodland creation and management and these were explained in a talk by Ian Cowe – Forestry Commission Scotland, while Simon Jacyna, SAC Consulting, demonstrated how woodlands are designed to achieve their objectives.

Links to PowerPoints from the day:

Ian Cowe, Forestry Commission Scotland – PowerPoint 

Simon Jacyna, SAC Consulting – PowerPoint

If you would like more information about the event or topics covered then please contact us on  0300 323 0161 or email us at  advice@fas.scot