Gary was convicted of burglary but had also been excluded from school for anti-social behaviour so he was given what is called a "referral order" by the Magistrates Court.  The Kent Youth Offending team had to decide what best to do with him so they visited Karen Little at March Wood to find out about her project near Ashford and she showed them her programme of activities for engaging young people.  Karen organises work in the woods, bushcraft, survival games and camp fire cooking.  She's properly trained and insured of course. The team liked what they saw and arranged for Gary to spend a week in the woods with Karen and her project. Read more...

Woodlands and forests provide us with a number of ecosystem services - things that contribute directly or indirectly to our well being.   Perhaps most obviously, woodlands and forests can provide us with sustainable sources of wood and timber; other products include fruits (e.g. acai) and nuts (brazils, walnuts), honey and medicines. Sadly, often our management of these resources does not make for happy reading.   Over-exploitation of natural resources is not, however, a new phenomenon.   History furnishes us with many examples of deforestation / clearance of woodlands - from China, Japan, the Indus valley, etc. long before various European / colonial influences came to bear.  Read more...

Many deciduous woodlands have good growths of hazel coppice: it springs from a single stump or "stool" into long, straight rods which can be cut every 10-15 years and the length of the rotation will depend on what the stems are to be used for.   In reality it may also depend on the vicissitudes of management and when the owner gets round to it, but hazel is very forgiving - it just keeps growing and within reason you can adjust what you use it for according to the size it's grown to. Traditionally hazel has been used for making thatching; pegs that would hold the straw or reeds in place, or for making hurdles (wooden screens).  Hazel is also used for making walking sticks and if it grows too big can be converted into charcoal.  But it's not just about what the wood can be used for - it creates a habitat in which lots of other plants, birds and woodland animals will thrive. Read more...

Danny English is a remarkably determined individual who says he wants to, "get people into woodlands and to help them connect with themselves and nature." He's not just about theoretical ideas but initiates dozens of events on a semi-commercial basis at a site called "The Island" in Summerseat, Lancashire, near to Ramsbottom. For example, he organises "Nature art", forest school and play-based learning around stories. One of Communitree's most popular activities is children's parties - these are typically for 10-15 visitors and last for 2-3 hours by which time everyone is exhausted and muddy but they have, hopefully, got closer to nature. Read more...

Last weekend I employed Matt Waller and Roy (the horse) as horseloggers to help extract oak boards which we had milled in a Hertfordshire woodland using an Alaskan chainsaw.  The opportunity arose because the manager of the wood had felled a few of the oaks so that he could grow more hazel coppice.  We were part of a trend towards keeping traditional skills alive - horselogging in the UK almost died out in the 1960s and 1970s, but it was saved by enthusiasts and is now becoming quite popular. Getting timber out of your wood like this creates much less compaction of the soil Read more...