Learning from North Wales

Forestry and woodland management practices across North Wales went under the spotlight during a five-day tour of the region by the Royal Forestry Society (RFS).

Chief Executive John Jackson said: “It was five-days of non-stop learning as experts in their different fields explained the rationale and objectives behind their management plans.

“The spectacular geography of North Wales lends itself to a vast array of different woodlands and forests – some where the primary purposes are for timber production to others where recreation and species biodiversity are major considerations.

“Those taking part came from far and wide across the UK, and even from Sweden. Each venue prompted new discussions, from woodland rotation for biomass to timber markets and accommodating recreation and access. Although the climatic and geographic challenges around the country vary, the management and marketing issues are common to all who work in forestry, and they generated a great deal of interest.”

The tour began in Coed y Brenin in the Snowdonia National Park with Forestry Commission Wales. There harvesting is complicated not only by the presence of recreational tracks developed for mountain bikers, hikers and others, but by protected bird species and ancient monuments. Restoration of Planted Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) is a major feature.

Day Two saw the Society at the privately owned Mostyn Estates in Flintshire where around 75 per cent of the 364 ha of woodland is broadleaf. The estate installed a sawmill in 2001 and its main timber market is restoration oak beam, with Welsh oak offered with fully traceable certificates. Other species include ash, cherry sycamore and lime. Larch is sold to boat builders on the nearby Dee and Mersey rivers and the estate management includes a 35-year rotation of broadleaf and conifer thinning to power Mostyn Hall’s state of the art biomass heating system.

Day Three was spent at the Bodnant Garden in Tal y Cafn, Conwy, courtesy of the National Trust. The gardens are known for their ‘Champion’ trees, and the visit was marked by the planting of a Magnolia cambellie and commemorative plaque. The afternoon included a visit to the nearby Tree Top Adventure Snowdonia, underlining the importance recreation and tourism now play in forestry management.

A trip on the Ffestiniog narrow-gauge railway took participants through the Vale of Ffestiniog to Hafod Boeth and Plas y Bwlch woodlands on Day Four. Both woodlands are managed by UPM Tilhill in the Snowdonia National Park and their management plans have been developed to achieve timber and environmental benefits on a sustainable basis. The day also included a visit to the Woodland Trust’s Coed Cadw where the woodland is gradually being restored to oak high forest through the removal of conifers.

The final day saw one group visit the Society’s own Charles Ackers Redwood Grove at Leighton, near Welshpool, which includes some of the nation’s oldest coastal redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens. A second group visited Bryn Engan in the Gwydyr Forest – one of the least disturbed areas of oak woodland owned by the Forestry Commission in the Llanrwst Forest District, and where much oak regeneration had appeared throughout the woodland.

Dr Jackson said: “Our thanks go to all those from the Snowdonia National Park, Forestry Commission Wales, The Woodland Trust, National Trust , the Mostyn Estate, UPM Tilhill, the Countryside Council for Wales and from our local North Wales Division for their time and energy in putting together so many information-packed and enjoyable events packed into so short a time.”

The tour was part of the RFS’s annual Whole Society Meeting, which includes its AGM. Next year will see the RFS tour the woodlands, forests and timber interests of the Midlands.