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Cumbria Sustainable Forestry Network

A ten-year forestry network for Cumbria

Ten foresters, ten working woodlands, and a community for everyone who looks after trees in Cumbria. We are seeking funding to get this project off the ground, and we need your support.

Why it is needed?

Cumbria's woods can give more, but only if we are willing to manage them. Much of our woodland is unmanaged, and this needs to change. Woodlands can't simply be left alone and expected to thrive. 

It isnt simply a choice between commercial forestry or conservation... 

"Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) is an increasingly vital silvicultural approach designed to build climate resilience, enhance forest biodiversity, protect soils, and sustain carbon storage while securing regular timber cash flow without the site disruption of clear-felling." Prof. Ted Wilson

However, foresters working in this way often work alone, unable to find markets for their timber and local businesses end up buying imported wood. Along side this, users of woodlands still see tree felling as harm, when careful thinning is part of the upkeep and management of a healthy forest. 

The project seeks to shine a light on those doing forestry differently, and build a community committed to managing woodland in this way. Supporting, sharing and promoting good practice in this way will hugely benefit the woodlands and the people who work with them. 

41%

of England's woodland is not currently in management.

3.9ha

is the average sized woodland on farms in England. This can be too small to reach markets, skills or support.

70%

of Cumbria's woodland under sustainable management by 2035. That's the target.

Phase 1

Project Set-up

Ten experienced foresters each bring a working woodland into a shared network. Together as a community they learn, share and record what they do with their woodland and what is produced.

These 10 sites and their foresters are then able to show how productive woodlands can be managed in a 'closer-to-nature' way and deliver tangible outcomes for Cumbria, both for nature and for the economy.

These case studies show how woodlands can be managed commercially alongside nature benefits. Supply chains can be shortened, small woodlands can generate income, and local timber can be sourced easily in Cumbria. 

We are now seeking funding for this first phase, as the start of a ten-year network.

You can show your support by following the link below. It's quick and easy to do...

Can you help by writing a letter of support?

Ten demonstration woodlands

Each site is assessed for baseline structure, habitat, carbon and timber, so change can be measured over the ten years.

A community of practice

This is a people project, with training, site visits and peer learning available for foresters, farmers and woodland owners from the start.

Local timber staying local

Joining up the woods with the people who need it, from makers to builders, from farm gates to fence posts.

Woods we can visit

Site visits with hands-on experience, helping others to find what might work for them.

For farmers and landowners

Almost every farm has some woodland. What can that woodland do for you?

The network helps farm woods give more: timber for your own gates, posts and buildings, wood to sell to neighbours and local makers, shelter for stock, and better habitat on the same ground.

Woodland and trees can offer so much...

  • Fence posts
  • Gates
  • Building timber
  • Firewood
  • Stock shelter
  • Wildlife
  • Cleaner water

We already see it working. A fourth-generation rake maker in Dufton was importing ash from Europe for handles for their rake business. Cumbria Woodlands was able to connect them with a local timber producer instead, bringing things much closer to home.

The foresters in the network will take what they learn from these ten sites into the many other woods they already manage, so the benefit reaches far beyond ten sites.

What is the legacy?

Forestry will be understood as a force for good Continuous cover forestry will be used far more widely across Cumbria. It will help everything connect, allowing woodland economies, ecosystems and communities to work together in a way that is truly sustainable.

Timber is understood and valued

People know where their wood comes from and what it is worth, and that changes how we look after the countryside.

A Cumbrian who wants a kitchen table made from sustainably grown, locally crafted Cumbrian wood will know where to find one, and will be able to afford it.

Felling is no longer feared

Cumbrians will see forestry as something that improves nature and makes the products society needs. Cutting down trees, done well, is part of the answer to our problems, not a threat.

A skilled, connected workforce

Supporting it all is a better trained, more practised and better connected forestry workforce.

Cumbria Woodlands

30 years supporting Cumbrian landowners

A community interest company working for every woodland in Cumbria to thrive ecologically and economically. Its Woodland Futures project advised more than 350 landowners on 3,604 hectares of woodland management and reached over 7,000 people.

Silviculture Academy

Continuous cover training and research

A not-for-profit educational institute led by Prof. Ted Wilson, specialising in silviculture training, research and evidence-based practice that restores and enhances woodland ecosystems.

We Need Your Help

Show your support for this project by following the link below. It's a quick and easy process that helps us build a case for a project like this, so if you can spare a few minutes, we would be grateful!

Can you help by writing a letter of support?

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