Future forests: can we see the wood for the trees?

THE DECISION SECTION- these pictures are all of Wentwood Forest, Wales.

Resource 9 Glossary

• UK Forestry Commission – government department responsible for forestry

• Efficiency – when something uses time and energy well• Financial assistance – giving of money• Recreational facilities – used for enjoyment• Depopulation – fewer people living in an area• Plantations – an area where trees are grown for wood• Restoration – returning to its earlier good condition

The Forestry Commission

• Is an government body • It manages 40% of the woodland area in the UK• It’s aims can be seen to conflict with each other:• They want to preserve woodland, but also

encourage profit making forestry, some native trees have been replaced with quick- growing conifers.

• At the detriment of natural ecosystems.

The Forestry Commission• Our forests and woods can contribute so much to our nation. We

deliver practical programmes to make sure that, as communities and individuals, we can get the most from them.

• We are constantly looking for ways to share our knowledge, plan activities and develop new initiatives to provide benefits for the economy and for our health and wellbeing.

• We work with a whole range of partners from private sector landowners to sports clubs, local communities to national businesses, on a whole host of recreation, regeneration and educational schemes.

• Our responsibilities span research, commercial timber production, sustainability programmes and policy, as well as learning and leisure.

• Our goal is always to ensure that, at a practical level, Britain can use its forests to contribute positively to as many of the nation's needs as we can while sustaining this great resource for the future.

Can you pick out any of the conflicts from these aims from the website of the Forestry Commission?

Resource 9

• This part shows the aims of the UK forestry commission.

• What are their main ideas?

• You should be able to identify the economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability

• Can you identify any stakeholders?

Conflicting Aims

• This paragraph explains the conflicts of some of the Forestry Commission’s aims.

Campaigning to save native trees

• Other options…

• Planted conifers are now being felled, and native trees replanted to regenerate the ‘traditional’ woodland in England.

Questions

• The Forestry Commission has many aims. Some of these can be said to be conflicting. Can you write down some of the aims that conflict, and explain why?

•  What is one of the projects that the Forestry Commission is currently running, to ensure the continuation of indigenous trees in the UK?

Can you write down the options for management the Forestry Commission would

give?

• Allow forestry and agriculture to take place ‘in harmony’

• To allow coniferous forests to be planted in the place of traditional forests for felling (and making money)

• To promote the development of the wood-using industry and its efficiency.

Resource 10

• This resource elaborates on the importance of native woodlands to conserve native ecosystems and habitats and the role of the Woodland Trust.

Resource 10

• Ice age – time in the past where temperatures were very cold

• Species – animals/plants that have similar features• Agriculture – farming• Fragmented – several separate parts• Woodland trust – charity trying to protect woodland• Agenda – list of possible future achievements• Biodiversity – number and variety of plants/animals that

exist in a certain area• Acquisition – to obtain something• Lobbying – to try and persuade someone

The Woodland Trust

• This is another stakeholder in the woodland in the UK

• They buy and manage woodlands and give people open access

• Their way of managing is more sustainable, and there are less conflicts.

• They are a conservation organisation• Their woodlands are accredited by the

FSC (do you remember what this means?)

ERRATUM!

The exam board have made a mistake in your resource booklet.

Please can you make sure that you change your booklet so that point 8 says biodiversity instead of dioversity.

What does ‘contemporary challenge’ mean?

The Woodland Trust

• What are the main aims of the woodland trust?

Looking at the whole of resource 10…

• Can you identify the different types of sustainability within the resource, and the work that the Woodland Trust does?

Resource 11

• This resource focuses on the battle to preserve and replant an areas of ancient woodland in South Wales. You should consider future permitted developments on this site.

Resource 11

• Planted ancient woodland – formerly semi natural but now replanted with conifers/broadleaves or a mixture of the two

• Habitat – the natural surroundings where a plant or animal lives

• Inhospitable – not suitable for humans to live in

The Decision

• This is the woodland that you will be making a decision about:

• Wentwood Forest in Wales

• It is famous for its areas of ancient woodland

Location

• What does this map tell you about the location of Wentwood Forest?

• What are the possible developments of this area of forest?

What differences can you see?

FORESTRY COMMISSION WOODLAND

NATIVE WOODLAND

Considering Future Permitted Development

• These are the ideas for the options for the development of the forest, that you may have to consider in the longer answer question…

Options

1. Do nothing and continue to collect the income from the coniferous forest, and allow footpaths through the ancient woodland.

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of this option?

Options

2. Reforestation- remove all the broad leaf trees, replant the area with conifer seedlings and capitalise on investment

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of this option?

Options

3. Clear fell to encourage farming and housing development- to meet the needs of a growing population

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of this option?

Options

4. Conserve the ancient woodlands, gradually replace conifers with broadleaves (indigenous trees) and allow paths through the forest.

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of this option?