FSC UK Forest Standards Manager Dr Owen Davies was one of two judges for the Duke of Cornwall’s Award for Resilient Woods, the Award for Excellence in Silviculture, and the Small and Farm Woodlands Award.
‘It was a real pleasure to be involved in the Excellence in Forestry Awards,' says Owen, ‘and to visit some truly remarkable woodlands. There were terrific examples of forest management in all of the categories, but for me the most exciting category was the Small and Farm Woodlands Award.
The entries were extraordinarily diverse, and their owners all deserve high praise. It was almost a shame to have to single out a winner from such a group, but we had to recognise the work of Gary Primrose at Sawrey Ground Plantation near Hawkshead, Cumbria; truly multi-functional and yet low impact woodland management, with clear economic, environmental and social benefits.’
Second place in the Small and Farm Woodlands Award went to James Ogilvie, whose management of Moss Wood included outstanding recreational and educational access to features of the area’s industrial heritage. In the other entries, Edward and Romola Acland showed how small scale coppice working can be both environmentally beneficial and surprisingly productive, Peter Woods combined management for fuelwood with great education provision, while Steven Marsh had taken on the daunting challenge of establishing access into previously un-managed woodland on difficult terrain in the Lake District National Park.
The awards for Resilient Woodlands and Excellence in Silviculture both went to traditional estates, whose foresters’ enthusiasm and professionalism were abundantly clear; Helmsley Estate, whose diverse woodlands are managed by forester Tim Tolliss with a well-informed approach to climate change, pests and diseases, and Zetland Estates, whose Woodland Carbon Code plantings by forester Shaun Purkiss were established to the highest standard.
To learn more about this year’s winners, the award categories, and the regions covered in the coming years, click here.