Future of Wood
Canals, railways and roads brought an era of cheap transport.
Now the UK transport system is overloaded and fuel costs are expensive. Would it be more sustainable to again produce resources in smaller local operations, closer to the end-user?
The Northmoor Trust manages a forestry research plantation, Paradise Wood. It breeds trees to provide local substitutes for imported hardwood timber and to thrive in the changing climates of the future.
Britain is the second least wooded country in Europe, and Oxfordshire, one of its least wooded counties. Forestry and woodlands currently cover 8% of the land area of England.
In the Wittenham area the dominant species are oak and ash (approximately 75%), and hazel, sycamore and beech (approximately 20%).
Conifers are being removed as they are non-native, are not as aesthetically pleasing and have low financial value.
The UK imports over 48 million m3of timber annually (including 2 million m3 of hardwood), at a cost of £8 billion.
Tropical and eastern European forests are being depleted to supply our needs.
Climate change threatens a global and local shortage of timber. Extreme weather events increase the possibility of damage from drought frost, storms or forest fires.
Warmer winters are likely to affect the populations of pests and pathogens, with a possible increased incidence of disease.
Trees planted today face unprecedented rates of climate change while they mature, hence additional alternative species - native and non-native – capable of thriving in the UK need to be investigated and promoted.
How can we ensure future supplies of home-grown hardwood timber to prevent exploitation of tropical rainforests?
The Northmoor Trust tree improvement programme was established at Paradise Wood in 1992. The programme includes breeding trials of 60,000 (mainly broadleaved) trees, improving the quality and, therefore the value of British forests. This will reduce reliance on imports, maintain woodland in our landscape and reduce our global footprint.
The research follows traditional selection and breeding techniques, employed by land managers for centuries. The best individuals are selected from across a species range. (perhaps from several countries). Seeds are then collected, grown under uniform conditions in a nursery, and then planted out in experimental trials where they undergo a rigorous, prolonged (15 years) testing phase. After testing, those individuals that are least good are culled from the trial, to leave the best performing individuals to cross fertilise.
Trials are replicated across a number of separate sites to ensure that those trees that perform best, do so because they ARE best and not just growing well in one location. That is to say, an individual is superior over other individuals across a wide range of sites.
The Northmoor Trust is currently working on and promoting walnut as an alternative to tropical, dark, hardwood species.
Walnut is not native to Britain, but was introduced by the Romans as a food source, and, more recently, from North America in 1656. It was valued for fruit (fresh, pickled and dried) and timber (furniture, gunstocks).
There are several species, although only two are of interest in Britain today – the common or English walnut (Juglans regia) and the black walnut (Juglans nigra).
Foresters are now keen to plant walnut as it is one of the most valuable hardwood species. Good quality veneer walnut sells for £1600 per m3 whilst oak is valued at £300 per m3 (at 2004 prices).
They are however concerned by proneness to frost damage and site sensitivity and hitherto walnut has had a low research priority in the UK.
There is increased potential with the likelihood of future milder climates. The Northmoor Trust is doing extensive research on both walnut species, believing in their great potential and immense commercial value.
Existing UK tree species need help to survive in the expected climate change. The Trust is developing research to test new sources of our native trees such as ash, oak, rowan and beech to help them cope with predicted climate change.
Beech is a characteristic species of the chalk escarpments of southern Britain. It could disappear by 2080 unless we assist the species to adapt by sourcing material from further afield.
Innovative woodland management can support biodiversity and improve cash flow:
Badgers are well established at Paradise Wood. “Badger flaps” are installed within the deer fence that surrounds the wood to allow badgers free entry whilst keeping harmful deer away from the young trees.
The Northmoor Trust planted 10,000 trees (mainly oak) in 2005/6 in the new Neptune Wood for a public access and educational project. This is one of twenty-seven new woodlands being planted across Britain to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. (more info to be added as project progresses)
Use of timber in building construction delays the return of CO2 to the atmosphere. Locally sourced timber has been used for the new offices of the Northmoor Trust at Hill Farm:
The frame is built with Douglas Fir (up to 120 years old), coming from the Bix Nature Reserve in the Chilterns. Boards and cladding are of Western Red Cedar from the Northmoor Trust woodlands. This wood naturally resists insect attack, so needs no preservative treatment. Walls are insulated with wool and hemp which would otherwise be waste products.
A sophisticated natural ventilation system keeps the offices cool in the Summer, and an external arcade shades the rooms.
