In her first budget as Chancellor, Rachel Reeves introduced a series of tax adjustments intended to raise additional revenue. While the headline measure was an increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, two other changes have a more direct impact on woodland and forestry owners: a rise in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and a reduction in Agricultural Property Relief (APR). Capital Gains Tax: Higher Rates, Immediate Impact The increase in CGT, from 20% to 24%, is likely to influence woodland sales and ownership decisions. Unlike agricultural land, CGT on woodlands applies only to the increase in land value, not the timber growing on it. This distinction benefits woodland owners by allowing them to potentially reduce their CGT liability, provided they obtain valuations for the timber at the time of purchase and sale. However, the higher rate may discourage woodland sales, as owners now face a larger tax bill. With the effect of the rate increase being immediate, many owners may choose to hold onto their woodlands for longer, which could have an indirect impact on the supply and demand of land suitable for forestry. Agricultural Property Relief: Tightening Inheritance Tax Relief Agricultural Property Relief, or APR, is a longstanding relief mechanism that exempts certain landowners from Inheritance Tax (IHT) if the land is classified as agricultural. While it might not seem relevant to forestry, commercially managed woodlands qualify under APR, allowing woodland owners to reduce their IHT burden, often to zero. However, Reeves’ budget has placed new limits on this relief. Under the new rules, commercially managed woodlands valued up to £1 million will still benefit from IHT relief. However, for estates exceeding this value, the IHT exemption is now capped, with any value over £1 million taxed at a reduced rate of 20% rather than the usual 40%. While the cap still offers a significant tax advantage, the change is a blow to larger woodland estates, many of which previously enjoyed full exemption. How Big Landowners are Affected This shift in APR has sparked a backlash among prominent landowners. Jeremy Clarkson, known for his 1,000-acre farm, and James Dyson, who owns roughly 36,000 acres, are among those likely to be impacted. For estates of this scale, even at the reduced IHT rate, tax liabilities could amount to millions: roughly £2 million for Clarkson and up to £72 million for Dyson. However, the budget changes leave room for maneuver. Landowners can avoid these new IHT liabilities by transferring land to their heirs well in advance of their passing, with a minimum of seven years required to ensure these assets fall outside of IHT calculations. Smaller Woodland Owners: Minimal Impact For smaller woodland owners, the impact of this budget is limited. Estates under £1 million in value will retain full APR benefits, and as long as their woodlands are commercially managed—whether by having a management plan or demonstrating some level of timber income—the IHT relief will remain. Timber income remains tax-free, and woodlands are still exempt from business rates, leaving smaller owners largely untouched by the budget changes. Final Thoughts While the budget introduces challenges for some, particularly larger landowners, smaller woodland owners who manage their land commercially are less affected. The Chancellor's adjustments aim to close gaps that previously benefited wealthy estates while preserving essential reliefs for those managing woodlands as smaller, income-generating enterprises. As the dust settles, these changes may encourage long-term holding strategies among larger estates, potentially reshaping the landscape of woodland ownership and management in the UK.

Since its formation, the earth has undergone change.  Life forms have come and gone.  There have been five major extinctions, the last being at the end of the Cretaceous Period; it killed off the dinosaurs and many other species.  This particular extinction event is thought to have been particularly rapid, due to an asteroid impact.  It caused a series of cataclysmic events and a rapid cooling of the Earth’s climate. Other changes, such as intense volcanic activity and tectonic uplift, may have pre-dated the asteroid impact but the event saw the elimination of many, many life forms. We are witnessing significant global change, that is also rapid in geological terms. Changes in the Earth’s climate and species composition usually take place over millennia, indeed over millions of years.  However, recent years have been very warm.  Global temperatures have changed noticeably. The warming that has been recorded “is exceptional relative to any period since before the last ice age, about 125,000 years ago”.  This warming has resulted in extreme and severe weather events in this country and across the world.  This year a record breaking January temperature of 19.9oC was recorded at Achfary, with storms Henk, Isha, and Jocelyn in the same month. The Earth’s warmest year on record (between 1850 to 2023) was 2023.  In early September 2023, the UK experienced a significant heatwave when daily maximum temperatures exceeded 30°C [somewhere in the UK] for seven consecutive days. [caption id="attachment_35526" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Drought![/caption] Such changes are not without effect. Phenology observations indicate that trees are producing their leaves earlier, woodland plants are coming into flower earlier. See the woodlands blog “Spring is on the move”.  A concern with these changing phenologies is that ‘mismatches’ can occur.  When trees come into leaf determines when caterpillars can feed and that, in turn, affects when birds can feed on the caterpillars and raise their young.  If these events do not occur in synchrony then the ‘functioning of the ecosystem’ is disturbed.  [caption id="attachment_25123" align="alignleft" width="300"] Leaf 'unfolding'[/caption] The agricultural and horticultural ecosystems that we have created are also affected by climate change. This year, heavy rainfall has meant that farmers in many parts of the UK have been unable to plant certain crops [such as potatoes, wheat and vegetables] during the key spring months. Some crops have rotted in the soil. In April, there was 111.4mm of rain, [the average for April is 71.9mm]; the sixth wettest April of the last 189 years.  Persistent wet weather also affects lambing, and can mean it is not possible to turn dairy cattle out onto grass / pasture, which in turn affects milk production. Monthly temperatures are more likely to be above average than below as climate change take effect.  This was true for the first three months of the year.  Warmer air holds more moisture and it can evaporate more water from the seas / oceans. A one degree (Celsius) rise in temperature adds 7% more moisture in the air.  Woodlands are affected by heavy rain as soil becomes waterlogged, which affects woodland flowers, and wet winters do no favours for animals that hibernate. The UK is not the only place to be affected by extremes of weather, be it rainfall and flooding, or high temperatures and drought.  India has recently experienced a period of extreme temperature, with temperatures approaching 50oC.  Such temperatures push human physiology to its limits.  Just as extreme rain is a problem for farmers, so is extreme heat and / or drought.  Brazil has been the main exporter of oranges for producing orange juice, but its recent crop has been substantially reduced as a result of flooding and drought; resulting in the worst harvest in decades. Spanish orange production has also been reduced due to drought. Like California, large parts of Florida ‘the Sunshine State’’ has seen its once-famous citrus industry reduced over the past two decades. Two diseases, greening and citrus canker have taken their toll, and then Hurricane Ian in September 2023, hit the citrus industry at the beginning of its growing season.  Large parts of the one famous citrus industry (oranges and grapefruit) have been lost and farmers are turning to the PONGAMIA tree to repurpose fallow land. [caption id="attachment_41381" align="alignleft" width="650"] Pongamia  : image thanks to Sarangib on Pixabay[/caption] This is a climate-resilient tree from India. They do not need fertiliser or pesticides.   It has been grown as a shade tree. As a member of the Fabaceae, it produces small, brown beans.  These are so bitter than not even wild hogs will eat them.  However, the beans are easily harvested by a machine that shakes the tree.  A San Francisco based company has found a way to remove the bitter tasting chemicals and use the beans in food production, as they yield a high quality protein and also an oil.  The bean (a legume) has been used to make a table oil, protein bars and a biofuel.   Orange juice production is not the only drink to be affected by changing climate.  Drought affects coffee plants and damages the quality of the soil, and excessive rainfall ‘favours’ fungal disease [e.g.coffee leaf rust and cherry rot], all of which will impact the yield and quality of the beans harvested.  Similarly, chocolate production is threatened. Cacao trees are impacted by global warming,  they can only grow and thrive within 10 degrees of the Equator, needing stable temperatures, high humidity, and ample rain.  However, temperatures are rising while rainfall has decreased. These changes lower the humidity. The trees are also under attack by a virus - cacao swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD). Changing temperatures and rainfall patterns will influence what crops can be grown and where, it will also influence their cultivation and the working patterns associated with those crops.  Climate change is thus a factor contributing to food inflation and insecurity across the world.    

Just as many animal species are threatened with extinction, so are many species of tree.  In fact, one estimate suggests that up to a third of tree species are under threat - that is more than 17,000 species.  This equates to more that the number of endangered mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians put together.  In 2021, the IUCN (the International Union for the Conservation of Nature) produced a report on some 58,497 tree species which identified 17,510 species as being threatened (and 142 extinct in the wild). In Mauritius, some 57% of tree species are at risk of extinction! Ideally, no single tree species should be lost, a single species can be an integral part of an ecological network. Its loss could result in the disappearance of many species and even an ecosystem collapse.  Some tree species are now represented by single numbers of specimens.  The ‘lonesome palm’ (Hyophorbe amaricaulis) is probably the last surviving member of its species. It is to be found in a botanic garden in Mauritius. It is an old, damaged and spindly specimen. It has problems with fruit formation; each of its fruits contains but one seed and the seeds are difficult to germinate (even the botanists at Kew could not persuade them to grow). The best approach to saving vulnerable trees is to protect their natural habitats.  This might mean controlling grazing by herbivores, or banning logging in sensitive areas.  Sometimes a change in cultivation techniques can make a difference.  The Lansan Tree produces a valuable, aromatic resin.  It is endemic to the Windward Islands and its fleshy fruits provide for native pigeons and other wildlife.  The resin is collected (tapped) from the tree by slashing the bark every one-to-two weeks. However, over-tapping for the resin can lead to the trees becoming infected with pathogens, then rotting, or subject to termite attack. The pathogens may spread to untapped trees.  Unregulated tapping and conversion of land from rainforest to agriculture have led to Lansan Tree populations all but disappearing in places. On Saint Lucia, where there is a large but threatened population of Lansan Trees, there is hope after the introduction of a sustainable resin harvesting technique.  This technique does not damage the tree but still allows a good yield of the resin.  This,  coupled with training of licensed resin tappers should protect the trees. Some species have reduced populations because their pollinators have been lost, so fruit and seed production has ceased.  Other species have separate male and female plants (dioecism) and the small populations that remain are represented by only one sex.  This was true for the catkin yew population in Hong Kong, where all the trees were males.  A global search found a female specimen in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.  Cuttings from the Edinburgh tree have now been planted in a managed site in Hong Kong.  Hopefully when they flower, fruit and seed production will occur;  but it may be a long wait for the young trees to reach sexual maturity.  Another species, the oleander podocarp (Podocarpus neriifolius) has been nursed back to viability by similar techniques. Some rare and isolated trees produce seeds but getting them to germinate is another matter.  Many seeds enter a state of dormancy and have extremely specific requirements for them to germinate and grow on.  In many cases, their needs are simply not known.  The seeds may need a particular temperature regime, or exposure to cold, fire, smoke or light of a particular wavelength. Some seeds may need to travel through the gut of a particular animal before they will germinate.  Sometimes, scientists have used to embryo culture. The embryonic radicle (root) and plumule (shoot) is extracted from a seed and then grown in a sterile nutrient culture medium.  This technique was used at Kew with the ‘lonesome palm’ as attempts to grow its seeds had failed.   Embryo culture resulted in plantlets forming but after a while their roots turned brown and the young plants died.  There are success stories.  A Cypress species Widdringtonia whytei, was reduced to a few trees in Malawi, as a result of illegal logging for timber. Many seedlings have been  planted on Mount Mulanje and  a good number of these have survived. [caption id="attachment_25196" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Entrance to the Millennium Seed Bank[/caption] When and where seeds are actually available, they can be dried or frozen (cryopreservation) and placed in seed banks, for example the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place.   We have to hope that through various interventions, the use of seed banks, botanic gardens and arboreta that we will be able to save many rare and threatened tree species,  you never know when one might be needed.

Anyone who has worked with us at Hive Cleaning, knows that sustainability is one of our most important guiding principles, along with being an ethical employer and exceptional cleaning standards.  We take sustainability ambitions seriously and have reduced our direct emissions to zero and are on track to reach Net Zero in 2025.   However, we didn’t want to just focus on our day to day operations (being technically ‘green’) but wanted a direct involvement with nature and natural ecosystems; that’s how our idea of a reforestation project was born.  We fell in love with a meadow (near Clovelly, in North Devon), a beautiful part of the world.  The meadow has stunning views and we could immediately imagine how tree planting in the meadow could further enhance the biodiversity and beauty of the area. [caption id="attachment_40611" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Hive Wood Sign[/caption] We have renamed Rosedawn Meadow to Hive Wood, and we are planning to plant over eight thousand trees over the next 15 years. As a part of our wider ESG strategy (this documents the company's impact on the environment) , we are committed to : ● Recreate historic hedgerows around the boundary ● Only planting local native broadleaf tree species ● Measuring the sequestered carbon via Carbon Trust ● Never selling the carbon credits ● Never felling the trees (except where necessary in terms of  managing the wood) ● Improving biodiversity and creating a haven for flora & fauna ● Using Hive Wood to promote biodiversity and carbon reduction / sequestration. We started the planting the trees and the hedgerow in March, this year.  So far, we have planted eight native species:  sycamore,  rowan,  white  poplar,  sessile oak,  buckthorn,  black alder,  blackthorn and  hornbeam.   

Chestnut coppice grows in abundance in the South East of England, especially in Kent and East Sussex. However it is quite small diameter, being harvested about every 15-25 years. The timber is very strong and resistant to rot. For some uses it is better than oak and unlike softwoods it does not need treating with chemicals. The problem is how to turn these relatively thin stems into useable pieces of timber and a small company, InWood, has found an answer. I was visiting The Woodland Centre to collect a batch of six-inch decking that the factory team had made for me, and they offered me a tour round the factory. Their answer is to glue it together using finger-joints which are actually stronger than the wood itself and you can use it for decking, cladding and even structural beams. My decking boards had machined-in grooves to stop it being slippery and there were other options for width such as their three-inch or four-inch boards. Peter Black, the factory manager, explained how they buy sweet chestnut planks and process them by sawing them to width, taking out the knots and any wood that is rotten or infested with woodworm. He says that there are also occasional shotgun pellets which need removing - many of the chestnut coppice woodlands in East Sussex are used for pheasant shoots. The sawing produces short pieces of the same width and thickness but the highlight for the visitor is seeing their German machine which automatically cuts a tooth-like pattern in each end and puts polyurethane glue on it. These sections are then pushed together to make long, virtually defect-free planks. The factory generates plenty of waste wood which burns well and burns hot - it is either used for heating the workshop or sold for firewood. Enviously I looked at the part of the workshop where they use a huge hydraulic press to make “Gluelam”, being laminated beams from planks. These bigger timber beams have lots of advantages over the alternative of using large sections of tree trunk: the wood is much more stable, is less likely to twist & warp, longer sections can be made and there is often less wastage. InWood’s front man is Alan Ellis whose phone number is 01825 872550, and he is happy to supply trade or retail. On their website (www.in-wood.co.uk) you can find some spectacular garden rooms which they make from laminated chestnut. We got our Sweet Chestnut decking from InWood because of the quality, and their sensible prices. This method of producing timber supports sustainable British Forestry as well as the coppicers.  Successive generations of coppice workers have used their skills since at least Roman times, when sweet chestnut was first introduced to southern England.

Rapid onset climate change, and the spread of new pests and diseases are creating unprecedented challenges to the long-term survivability of UK woodlands.  This looming threat is becoming ever more tangible, and the need for strategies of resilience building is urgent. Promoting diversification within and amongst woodlands has been identified as one such strategy with the potential for significant, positive impact. DiversiTree is a UKRI-funded project led by the James Hutton Institute which is measuring the impact a more diverse mixture of tree species has on building resilient woodland ecosystems, as well as how woodland managers and others understand woodland diversity, and what they are CURRENTLY doing to promote resilient woodlands. The project also hopes to generate practical advice and results which managers can use to make better informed decisions regarding the species mix of their woodlands, especially with regard to conifers. A key question which often accompanies discussions of woodland diversity is the planting of non-native species within British woodlands. The DiversiTree project is taking an evidence-focussed approach to its assessment and are investigating how ecological resilience interacts with woodlands with different priorities or objectives and what this might mean for the longer-term ecological sustainability of the forests of the UK. In actuality, many native woodlands are rather species poor, and could potentially benefit from a period of managed diversification with native species, non-natives, or a mixture depending on local objectives and context. What is critical here, is understanding the ecological role ANY tree can serve in a complex landscape, and planting in a manner which enhances and strengthens a woodland’s biodiversity.   If you’d like to learn more about our work and keep updated with our progress, please follow us on Twitter @DiversiTree_UK (https://twitter.com/DiversiTree_UK?s=20) or email [email protected] with any questions.  Seumas Bates (Environmental Anthropologist, Bangor University)  

Many trees emit a scent or fragrance.  They form volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), often oils.  Pine trees, for example, release pinenes. Such VOC’s contribute to the smell that you may experience as you walk through a woodland.  The VOCs contribute to the formation of aerosols.  An aerosol is a ‘mixture’ of very small particles (solid or liquid) in air; other examples of aerosols include mist, cigarette smoke, or even car exhaust fumes!  Recent research by the University of East Finland has showed that aerosols formed from VOCs can reduce the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth’ surface, by scattering some of the radiation back into space.  [caption id="attachment_40200" align="aligncenter" width="532"] Felling in progress[/caption] Pine trees are often grown in vast numbers and periodically felled for timber and paper making.  One by-product of paper-making (by the Kraft process) is turpentine - formed by the condensation and collection of the volatile oils in the wood). The pinenes (α and β) are major constituents of turpentine.  ‘Turps’ is used as a solvent to thin oil-based paints, for producing varnishes and as a ‘raw material’ in the chemical industry.  α-Pinene was used to make toxaphene (an insecticide, now banned).  Pinene can also treated with acetic acid to make a perfume with a pine needle smell. Recently a team of scientists at the University of Bath have found a new use for the by-products of paper production.  Using pinene from turpentine, they have been able to make a number of pharmaceutical compounds that can then be made into the painkillers - paracetamol and ibuprofen.  They have also successfully made other chemicals from the plant based turpentine, including compounds that may be used to synthesise `beta-blockers (heart tablets) and salbutamol (used for asthma).   At present, many pharmaceuticals and other chemicals are ultimately derived from crude oil.  Hopefully, this research will ultimately lead to a more sustainable and ‘green’ approach to drug / pharmaceutical manufacture. Biochar is the black residue, consisting of carbon and ashes that remain when plant biomass is subject to pyrolysis - that is, very high temperatures with very little  or no oxygen present oxygen. The material that remains is largely elemental carbon.  The benefits of converting plant biomass into biochar is that the carbon is ‘locked up’, rather than being released by decay and decomposition into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.  Its advocates claim that when added to soil, it improves soil structure and function, as well as being a form of carbon sequestration.. [caption id="attachment_40215" align="alignleft" width="300"] cocoa fruit[/caption] Various forms of biomass (woody debris, corn stalks) have been used to produce biochar, however, a novel method makes use of ‘discarded’ cocoa bean shells.  These are heated to a temperature in excess of 600oC, with no oxygen present.  This particular form of biochar is being produced in in Hamburg. The plant, which is one of the largest in Europe, receives a supply of used cocoa shells viably a network of grey pipes from a neighbouring chocolate factory.  Apart from its use as a fertiliser, it is possible that it might be used as an ingredient to create a ‘green’ (or more environmentally friendly) form of concrete. The sequestration of carbon is vital if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change.  Global warming has triggered an increase in heatwaves, floods, droughts, and forest fires in recent years; June temperature data confirms it was the planet's hottest on record. Cocoa fruit : courtesy of Pixabay.

Woodlands.co.uk was chosen as the sustainability sponsor for the February 2023 conference, State of Open 2023.  Mostly held for those working in computing and data, this event was held at the QE2 centre in Westminster, with several hundred individuals who networked and learnt more about open source, open data and open standards.  The highlight was the speech by Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, explaining that Wiki isn't just about free and open information but about structure: their whole model is unusually open. It's truly democratic amongst wikipedians and is the antithesis of top-down models which dominate most of the world's organisations. As sponsors, woodlands.co.uk committed to plant at least one tree for every conference delegate as a carbon-offsetting measure and to encourage biodiversity. It turns out that at this conference relatively little extra carbon was produced for various reasons - the QE2 conference centre itself has strong environmental policies and the delegates were mostly either UK-based or were travelling to Europe anyway for a related conference.  Nethertheless many of them took away free eco-merchandise from the Woodlands stand, including seeds for planting and wooden pens.  Lots of the conference attendees were also interested in buying land for tree-planting so that their company would be offsetting its own carbon footprint and the staff would have a nearby place to go and enjoy. Sustainability sponsors can occasionally be accused of offering 'greenwash" but in this case there was no risk of that because the OpenUK movement is already so committed to sustainability and to using software to reduce carbon emissions.  And in this case, too, the sponsor was offering practical measures such as the planting of defined numbers of trees in the UK (in Kent) rather than a theoretical payment to a nebulous foreign project.  Conference participants were offered the chance to take away seeds to plant their own oak, cherry, lime, chestnut or sycamore trees. The role of sustainability sponsors at conferences varies but can involve financial support or the promotion of sustainability initiatives.  Some eco sponsors also offer energy audits, sustainability assessments or carbon footprint analysis.  According to the AI chatbot, ChatGPT, "Overall, sustainability sponsors play a critical role in supporting the transition to a more sustainable future by providing resources, expertise, and advocacy to organisations working on sustainability issues."