1 / 17

Conifers for Colleges

Conifers for Colleges. Ian Gambles Director Forestry Commission England Royal Forestry Society 5 th November 2014. What I am going to cover. The conifer challenge… Pests and diseases Climate change Anti-conifer sentiment Loss of silvicultural skills … and what we can all do about it.

nconway
Télécharger la présentation

Conifers for Colleges

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Conifers for Colleges Ian Gambles Director Forestry Commission England Royal Forestry Society 5th November 2014

  2. What I am going to cover • The conifer challenge… • Pests and diseases • Climate change • Anti-conifer sentiment • Loss of silvicultural skills • … and what we can all do about it Conifers for Colleges

  3. All Woodland In England 1/3rd conifer 2/3rd broadleaf Conifers for Colleges

  4. Broadleaf woodland in England 5 species make up 77% of the total Phytophthora alni Acute Oak Decline Oak processionary moth Chestnut Blight Grey Squirrel Deer Drought Chalara Conifers for Colleges

  5. Conifer woodland in England 6 species makes up 89% of the total Lappet moth Dothistroma DNB Phytophthora ramorum Spruce aphid Drought Conifers for Colleges

  6. Multiplying pests and diseases 6 05/01/2020 Conifers for Colleges

  7. Climate change and silviculture Current origins 0 Future origins? 2 3 5 Is what we are planting now adapted to known climate change? of 15 Conifers for Colleges

  8. Anti-conifer sentiment • Right to protect and restore ancient woodland • Understandable that the mistakes of a previous generation are not forgotten • BUT • Contemporary certified afforestation is far beyond outdated perceptions – and creates places of beauty, biodiversity, recreational and direct production value • English timber production and processing contributes £2.1 billion GVA • With rising pressure on land use and land values, uneconomic woodland is at long-term risk Conifers for Colleges

  9. New conifer planting (thousands of hectares): An alarming table Conifers for Colleges

  10. New conifer planting (thousands of hectares): An alarming table Conifers for Colleges

  11. The skills challenge • “Rediscovery” of silviculture relies entirely on skilled foresters to carry it through – but the workforce is ageing • Secondary education – English woodland culture missing from the curriculum; focus only on global deforestation issues • Further and higher education – loss of institutions and courses, drift from forestry to broader environmental disciplines • But together we can tackle this… Conifers for Colleges

  12. Tackling pests and diseases • A top ministerial priority: • Continuing control action and surveying to limit spread of phytophthora ramorum • Forest Research programmes working on dothistroma, pine tree lappet moth etc • More investment in import controls – significant interceptions recently • Systems improvement – plant health risk register, increasing sector and stakeholder understanding and co-operation Conifers for Colleges

  13. Planting for the future on the PFE Previous planting Current planting 2010-11: “Big 6” – 88% Alternative conifers: 2% Broadleaves: 10% 2013-14: “Big 4” – 68% Alternative conifers: 17% Broadleaves: 15% Conifers for Colleges

  14. Research and information Conifers for Colleges

  15. Supporting conifers • What the Commission is doing: • Public Forest Estate supplies 58% of English softwood. We planted 4.5 million conifers last season. • Forest Research programmes working on timber quality for alternative species – and our improved Sitka yields +25% • Woodland creation grants will continue to support conifer planting • Above all – supporting the sector’s own initiatives: Grown in Britain, Roots to Prosperity, Woodland Carbon Code etc Conifers for Colleges

  16. Skills – lots of good news • Apprenticeships on the rise: • Forestry Trailblazer announced this week • Forestry Skills Initiative • FC apprenticeships • Working with schools • Forests for the Future – KS2 • RFS Teaching Trees • Herefordshire Hub • HE & FE – on the way back? • Reading, Birmingham, ICF, RFS… • …and Conifers for Colleges Conifers for Colleges

  17. It’s not the trees – it’s the people Conifers for Colleges

More Related