Last week was the Institute of Chartered Foresters Annual Members Wales Network Conference and I opened the Conference: *How Commercial Forestry Enhances Our Environment* (Abridged version due to word limit) Forest Cover in Wales is 15%: 44% coniferous woodland 56% broadleaf. Woodlands in Wales are home to many endangered plants and animals, such as red squirrels, pine marten and the spreading bellflower. The State of Nature Report 2019 showed the abundance and distribution of the UK’s species have declined, stating 17% of Welsh species are at risk of extinction. A lack of woodland management was included amongst the major pressures causing the loss of wildlife. 210 of the 542 species of principal importance for biodiversity in Wales rely on woodland habitats. Wales has progressive legislation, on how we protect the environment and find opportunities for trees - The Environmental (Wales) Act: sets out “sustainable management of natural resources” this build resilience into ecosystems whilst helping society create jobs, support livelihoods and wellbeing - The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act aims to improve social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales and requires public bodies to think about the long-term impact of their decisions – it is ensuring that future generations have at least the same quality of life as we do now - The Agricultural (Wales) Act is based on sustainable land management and has 4 overarching objectives: to produce food and other goods in a sustainable manner, mitigate and adapt to climate change, maintain and enhance resilience of ecosystems, conserve and enhance the countryside and to sustain the Welsh Language The UK Climate Change Commission recommends that 180,000 ha of new woodland needs to be created to by 2050 in Wales, and identifies trees, woodlands and forests play a key role in greenhouse gas removal. The UK as a whole is the 2nd largest net importer of forest products globally. We are off shoring our responsibilities creating overseas unintended environmental consequences. The forecast of global demand for sustainable wood products could quadruple by 2050 jeopardizing securing future imports. 90% of our land is farmland in Wales, if forestry is to expand it has to involve farmers. In Wales our sector is created of smaller land-holdings, micro-businesses with a strong cultural and community heritage, as foresters we need to honor and embrace this as part of our offer. Expanding our forests is not the only solution, we should also be optimizing the productivity of our current forests. There is a great opportunity in Wales to further increase our sector contribution to the Welsh economy and nature emergency. But to achieve this, it is fundamental that the forestry and agricultural sectors work collaboratively to meet our planting targets by achieving the right tree in the right place. Confor: Confederation of Forest Industries (UK) #Cymru
Today was The Institute of Chartered Foresters, annual Wales Members Network conference. We explored the theme ‘How Commercial Forestry Enhances our Environment’, with an opening address delivered by Elaine Heckley of CONFOR. The conference focused on red squirrel conservation, scheduled ancient monuments, ancient woodland mapping, forests and their relationship with water, the FOrest Biodiversity Index, silvicultural choices, species diversity, and then we rounded off the day learning about the work being carried out at Norbury Park. Our closing address was given by Jo Fox-Evans of The Institute of Chartered Foresters, where Jo reiterated the need for adaptability, forward thinking, collaborative working and continued professionalism to deliver the benefits of commercial forestry to the environment. Terrific turnout for the event - thank you to everyone who made the effort to attend and all of our guest speakers who shared their time, and expertise with us.
