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Forestry Commission accounts - a forest of facts

Forestry Commission accounts – a forest of facts

by Angus, 16 February, 2012, 0 comments

The Forestry Commission (FC) owns and manges over a million hectares of land and so must know a thing or two about UK forestry, and much is revealed in the Forestry Commission's formal accounts. This is a long document, at over 150 pages, but rather than pay £23.50 for it you can get the accounts online for free. Even though it's free many people would consider a set of Forestry Commission accounts to be a tedious read so we've been through them and dug out some interesting material. For example the key figure that the FC expect to pay for woodland management each year is about £72 per hectare or about £29 per acre per year, after taking account of income generated. Our surveys of owners of small woodlands show that they typically spend more than this on a per acre basis, so it is surprising that the report, rather dismissively, refers to strong demand for "hobby woodlands" and environmental ownership" Read more...
Lath Wood

Lath Wood

by Robert S, 12 February, 2012, 2 comments

My wife and I decided on the purchase of a small wood a few years ago.  We were able to research financial, legal and physical practicalities on-line and www.woodlands.co.uk was the most useful site in our search for a suitable wood. We visited nine or ten woods  across the South of England, from Devon in the West to Kent in the East.  We were looking for a wood between 3 and 6 acres up to a  spend of about £40K. Some people spend as much on a car, whilst for us non-drivers - a wood is a much better, permanent investment, especially when financial products are looking risky. But we weren’t just looking for somewhere to bank money but a place of natural beauty and quietude to enjoy and preserve.   Our wood had to be accessible from London by public transport but still a rural gem away from built habitation.  We were ideally looking for a bluebell wood with a good mix of tree cover -- not a conifer plantation. Read more...
Aspects of The Storm of '87.

Aspects of The Storm of '87.

by Richard, 7 January, 2012, 2 comments

On 16th October 1987, the Great Storm took away many mature trees from the landscape of southeast England, a great swathe of destruction was wreaked on our woodland and parkland trees.  Many trees and overlarge coppice still lie where they fell, the coppice more often than not growing up again but from a much larger base.  The mature trees have been gradually rotting. All the resources locked up in the wood being released and taken up by bacteria, fungi, invertebrates and so to higher organisms.  It was a major ecological disturbance,  that in some ways has been of considerable benefit to wildlife. Read more...
Is land the "new gold" for investors? What might this mean for woodland owners

Is land the "new gold" for investors? What might this mean for woodland owners

by Angus, 29 December, 2011, 2 comments

The ongoing financial crisis was expected by many to push down the price of land but it seems that it has in fact pushed up land values.  What appears to have happened is threefold: people are getting such a low return on their cash that they feel land is a more attractive option  investors don't trust the banks and think of land as a "safe haven" whilst many are suffering from the downturn there are many others with cash who are choosing to invest in land. Land has been described as the "new gold" - a safe haven for wealth even if actual returns are low.  This also seems to explain the buoyant residential property market in central London. Read more...
National Tree Week 2011 - 26th November to 4th December

National Tree Week 2011 – 26th November to 4th December

by Richard, 27 November, 2011, 0 comments

The Tree Council’s annual tree weeks have been an undoubted success, emanating from the 1973  “Plant a tree in ’73” campaign (some rather cynical individuals chanted “cut it down in ’74”) and must have resulted in not only in promoting the whole idea of trees but in planting many thousands across the country in parks, gardens, roadsides, corners of farmland and development sites to name but a few.  The Tree Coucil ( http://www.treecouncil.org.uk) is our foremost campaigner and umbrella body for UK organisations involved in tree planting, care and conservation. Forestry and woodlands are a long-term business but those of us planting in ’73 can see the fruits of our labours: we stand back and look up at the hornbeam, hazel, hawthorn and fieldmaple spreading wide and high;  the oak, ash, beech and birch are trees, a miraculous metamorphosis from those tiny whips planted during the cold winter months – it seems like yesterday.  We plant for the next generation but once established trees grow quickly so we can all enjoy watching them develop. Read more...
How old are woodland buyers?

How old are woodland buyers?

by Angus, 23 November, 2011, 2 comments

Of course woodland buyers can be any age (as long as they are above 18 in order to be able to enter into a contract for a land purchase).  However, we decided to do a study of actual woodland buyers to see how old they actually were when they bought the woodland and most people were happy to tell us.  The study was of the individuals responding to the telephone questionnaire rather than the average age of the couple, where it was bought jointly - but we assume this will not have distorted out results significantly. Read more...
Financing your wood

Financing your wood

by Angus, 10 June, 2011, 1 comments

In our recent report [pdf file here] into woodland ownership we found that financial gain had a much lower level of importance than factors like conservation, wildlife and wanting to ‘get away from it all’.  Less than half (40%) of the owners we surveyed said that the purchase of the wood as an investment was quite or very important and only one in ten said that its purchase for tax purposes was important. Half (51%) said that having the wood as a retirement project was very or quite important, and we are often approached by individuals in this stage of their lives. They often have access to a lump sum via their pension pay-out and with today’s low interest rates they view a wood as a living investment which they can share with friends, children and grandchildren. Read more...
Biochar at the Centre for Alternative Technology: business opportunity for small woodland owners or climate change solution

Biochar at the Centre for Alternative Technology: business opportunity for small woodland owners or climate change solution

by Chris Colley, 31 March, 2011, 12 comments

Biochar may be used to mitigate climate change brought on by global warming, by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locking the carbon into the soil, if James Lovelock (originator of the seductive Gaia hypothesis) is to be believed.  Others say the numbers just don’t work.   Biochar is also put forward as a very effective soil improver, which can reduce fertiliser use, reduce pollution, increase crop yields, and as an approach to agriculture may be traced back to the terras preta (black soils) of the Amazonian rainforest. Read more...

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