Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a stump, which in many species encourages new shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest or grove that has been subject to coppicing is called a copse or coppice, in which young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. The resulting living stumps are called stools. New growth emerges, and after a number of years, the coppiced trees are harvested, and the cycle begins anew. Pollarding is a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree in order to prevent grazing animals from eating new shoots. Daisugi, is a similar Japanese technique.
The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972.
The National Forest is an environmental project in central England run by The National Forest Company. From the 1990s, 200 square miles (520 km2) of north Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and southeast Staffordshire have been planted in an attempt to blend ancient woodland with newly planted areas to create a new national forest. It stretches from the western outskirts of Leicester in the east to Burton upon Trent in the west, and is planned to link the ancient forests of Needwood and Charnwood.
In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 is likely to have developed naturally.
Trees for Life is a registered charity working to rewild the Scottish Highlands.
Forest school is an outdoor education delivery model in which students visit natural spaces to learn personal, social and technical skills. It has been defined as "an inspirational process that offers children, young people and adults regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence through hands-on learning in a woodland environment". Forest school is both a pedagogy and a physical entity, with the use often being interchanged. The plural "schools" is often used when referring to a number of groups or sessions.
Founded in 1967, Earth Trust is an environmental charity which was originally known as the Northmoor Trust for Countryside Conservation. Earth Trust was initially established by the British engineer Sir Martin Wood to promote environmental conservation through land management, education, and land science. It is a registered charity under English law.
Long Wittenham is a village and small civil parish about 3 miles (5 km) north of Didcot, and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southeast of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it from Berkshire to Oxfordshire, and from the former Wallingford Rural District to the new district of South Oxfordshire.
The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) is an educational charity and one of the oldest membership organisations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for those actively involved in woodland management.
Wentwood, in Monmouthshire, South Wales, is a forested area of hills, rising to 1,014 feet (309 m) above sea level. It is located to the northeast of, and partly within the boundaries of, the city of Newport.
Alice Holt Forest is a royal forest in Hampshire, situated some 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Farnham, Surrey. Once predominantly an ancient oak forest, it was particularly noted in the 18th and 19th centuries for the timber it supplied for the building of ships for the Royal Navy. It is now planted mainly with conifers. Forestry England took over the management of the forest in 1924, and a research station was set up in 1946 in the Alice Holt Lodge, a former manor house. The forest is now part of the South Downs National Park, which was established on 31 March 2010, and it forms the most northerly gateway to the park.
The United Kingdom, being in the British Isles, is ideal for tree growth, thanks to its mild winters, plentiful rainfall, fertile soil and hill-sheltered topography. In the absence of people, much of Great Britain would be covered with mature oaks, except for Scotland. Although conditions for forestry are good, trees face threats from fungi, parasites and pests. Nowadays, about 13% of Britain's land surface is wooded. European countries average 39%, but this varies widely from 1% (Malta) to 66% (Finland). As of 2021, government plans call for 30,000 hectares to be reforested each year. Efforts to reach these targets have attracted criticism for planting non-native trees, or trees that are out of place for their surroundings, leading to ecological changes.
Dr Gabriel Hemery is an English forest scientist (silvologist) and author. He co-founded the Sylva Foundation with Sir Martin Wood, a tree and forestry charity established in 2009.
Paradise Wood is a research woodland established by the Earth Trust between the villages of Little Wittenham and Long Wittenham in Oxfordshire England. It has evolved to become the largest collection of hardwood forestry trials in Britain.
Paul Sellers is a British woodworker, writer and teacher. He was apprenticed as a woodworker in the UK in 1965 at the age of 15. He moved to the US in 1984 and quickly became noted for his ability in traditional woodworking. He has and continues to teach people the craft of woodworking. He taught at the Homestead Heritage Woodworking School in Texas. During his time at the School he designed, and made with a team of craftspeople, cabinets for the White House. He started the New Legacy School of Woodworking that provides short courses. Sellers is author of Working Wood which was published in 2011 and Essential Woodworking Hand Tools which was published in 2016. He then moved to premises at the Sylva Wood Centre in Long Wittenham, near Abingdon in Oxfordshire. Recently Sellers moved to larger premises in an industrial unit in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
Scotland is ideal for tree growth, thanks to its mild winters, plentiful rainfall, fertile soil and hill-sheltered topography. As of 2019 about 18.5% of the country was wooded. Although this figure is well below the European Union (EU) average of 43%, it represents a significant increase compared to the figure of 100 years previously: in 1919 it was estimated that only 5% of the country's total land area was covered in forest. The Scottish Government's Draft Climate Change Plan has set an aim of increasing coverage to 21% of Scotland by 2032, with the rate of afforestation rising to 15,000 hectares per year by 2024.
The Big Tree Plant was a Government-sponsored campaign in England in 2010, to promote the planting of trees in neighbourhoods where people lived and worked. The national campaign ran over four years from 2011 to 2015 and met its objective to plant one million trees.
The National Urban Forestry Unit (NUFU) was a British charity established in 1995 to promote urban forestry. Urban forestry is the care and management of single trees and tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment. Urban forestry involves both planning and management, including the programming of care and maintenance operations of the urban forest.
Since 2017, the Woodland Trust has led 70 United Kingdom organizations in the call for a Charter for Trees, Woods and People.
