The Importance of Sustainable Timber Harvests
Our team always take great pride and feel a great sense of responsibility to honour the fellow foresters that came before us, particularly when it comes to utilising timber from the trees that they so lovingly planted and tended for decades or centuries before us.
When we manage our woodlands, we always work with our clients to make sure that we are meeting their key objectives. This involves balancing a financial return for the client, managing the biodiversity within the woodland habitats and ensuring that our plans contribute to the wider needs of society and the landscape.
Our timber harvesting methods utilise the tree in its entirety for inclusion in the most profitable and sustainable markets. We only get the opportunity to sell it once! The value of timber is secured through the careful management and maintenance of the trees throughout their lives, ensuring that we are creating large, tall, straight trees with little or no branches on the lower stem. If management is neglected or poorly executed, a mature tree might only be good enough to be fed through a chipper or split with an axe for firewood. This would mean missing out on an opportunity to harvest something valuable that will live on for many centuries, either as a beautiful piece of furniture or to hold up the homes and offices that we inhabit.
By Justin Mumford, Director of Consultancy
Now is a good time to look at woodlands to explore opportunities for harvesting over the winter. The sap in our mighty oak, ash and chestnut will be dropping and once the trees enter dormancy, it is the best time to fell to maintain quality. The white woods such as sycamore and ash are particularly fussy when it comes to being felled cleanly and in their prime. Some take it a step further and believe that felling trees during certain phases of the moon, such during a waning moon, will give better quality and prevent splitting of the tree as it drops!
Currently, there is a strong demand for sustainably grown UK timber that has been responsibly felled. Particularly, prices for firewood remain strong as people start to look ahead to the colder days drawing in.
Being able to utilise and work with the markets can make all the difference as to whether a job proves to be profitable to the landowner or not. We work with many different markets, placing material into everything from horse bedding, hurling sticks, cricket bats and skittles.
In recent years, the big innovation in the market has been the ability to utilise the branches of trees for sustainable energy. This not only provides additional income but also leaves the woodlands neat and clear for replanting.
To discuss opportunities for sustainable timber harvesting on your land, please do not hesitate to contact Justin Mumford or Dai Lewis.
