Focus Forestry can call upon decades of industry experience to provide a full range of Woodland Management and Forestry services.
Trees and woodland are fundamental, not only to the English landscape, but also our heritage. Our respect and passion for local woodlands as places of recreation has not diminished, as the Government discovered when it unveiled plans to privatise the public woodland estate. We love our woods!
As a woodland owner, you will probably be aware that woodland management is the key to maintaining a thriving and diverse resource; woodlands left to their own devices inevitably decline in value and biodiversity. Regular interventions maintain habitat diversity for native flora and fauna, ensure that the timber resource continues to thrive, and encourage resilience at a time when trees and woodland are under attack by an array of new diseases and threats. Good woodland management adds to the capital value of your woodland asset and can provide a regular income through the sale of timber for the sawlog, coppice and firewood markets.
At Focus Forestry we aim to provide you with the management tools you need to maximise the benefits of woodland ownership. We have the experience and expertise to offer woodland management on a short or long-term basis, dependent upon your needs.
Our Woodland Management services include:
Woodland Assessment
Is your resource broad-leaved, conifer or mixed woodland? Is it an evenaged plantation or a semi-natural ancient woodland? Are there diverse habitats with open ground and deadwood to encourage biodiversity? A woodland assessment will provide information about species, yield class, timber quality, public access, land designations, suitability for possible interventions and the provision of available grant aid. Such assessments are normally associated with the production of a Woodland Management Plan.
Woodland Management Plans
A Forestry Commission grant-funded document, a Woodland Management Plan takes woodland assessment to the next level by not only providing an inventory of the woodland property but by drawing up plans for interventions over the course of a 10-year period. A Plan of Operations accompanies the Woodland Management Plan and, once approved, provides a Felling Licence to allow the legal removal of timber. A valid Woodland Management Plan is also a requirement for the inclusion of woodland areas in Entry and Higher Level Countryside Stewardship Agreement (ELS/HLS).
Additionally, Focus Forestry also provide a range of GIS mapping services to support RLE1 applications for entry onto the Rural Land Register.
Timber Production
Once a Woodland Management Plan has been approved, it is time to begin operations. Such interventions can either be undertaken directly, through the employment of sub-contracted labour, or via a standing sale. In this latter option, a third-party company buys the timber uncut, then proceeds with the felling, under contract, at agreed prices. At Focus Forestry we have experience of managing forestry operations that aim to generate income, improve stand quality and satisfy the demands of habitat creation and aesthetic concerns.
Forestry Sub-Contractor Management
Our networks of high-quality, well qualified sub-contractors mean that we can always find the appropriate operators to suit each individual site. Management oversite and on-site supervision is crucial to safeguard an owner’s needs and concerns while ensuring safe and efficient operations within the woodland. We have the experience to ensure that Health and Safety requirements are met through the production of risk assessments and emergency procedures, and by ensuring that operators are correctly certified and insured.
Timber Sales and Marketing
The key to profitable forestry operations is the successful marketing of timber. At Focus Forestry we have extensive experience of the timber marketing business, matching products with buyers across a wide array of markets. Our link with the Timber-To marketing scheme allows us to benefit from a co-operative timber outlet that offers low marketing fees in tandem with large volume price advantages and an extensive network of high-quality timber hauliers.
Biofuel and Woodchip Production
With the huge increase in wood boilers has come an expanding need for woodfuel. Many landowners have themselves taken advantage of the Renewable Heat Incentive and installed wood boilers. This market has provided a useful outlet for low-grade timber and can often be the way to begin bringing a neglected woodland back into a management regime. Perhaps as a woodland owner you have a wood boiler and could tap into your own source of woodfuel?
Further Reading
For more information concerning woodland management and the laws and criteria that govern woodland in England, we recommend downloading the official Forestry Commission document here: forestry-commission-england-so-you-own-a-woodland.pdf