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Sustainability - The Future of Conservation Woodland Management

The Trust has recently been successful in securing £5,000 of funding from Carillion to help support its vital work at Ryton Wood Site of Special Scientific Interest which forms part of the Princethorpe Woodlands large area. The Carillion Natural Habitats Fund (2010/11) is now in its sixth year and to date, the company has given over £150,000 to the Wildlife Trusts around the UK for a range of different projects from beetles to butterflies, sand lizards to dormice and bluebells to orchids.

The project, which is called Sustainability - The Future of Conservation Woodland Management will be delivered between now and March 2011 and form part of the development of the wider Princethorpe Project. The idea behind the project is to pilot the link between the bi-product of woodland management (i.e. the timber produced) with sustainability. This will involve extracting the timber felled through our conservation management practices to the road side using heavy horses. From there the wood will be taken to be processed into woodchip, which will then be returned to Brandon Marsh Nature Centre where it will supply our woodchip boiler, heating the visitor centre and staff office block.

News Update:
On Monday 24th January, heavy horses were working at Ryton Wood to extract timber as part of a sustainable management programme to enhance the wood for the rare wood white butterfly. The timber will be sold to the wood fuel market and go to heat buildings, such as the Trust's Wood chip boiler.

The day was documented on the BBC programme Midlands Today.

Photos by Steve Batt

The funding itself is targeted at supporting the following objectives:

The creation and enhancement of the network of woodland rides to ensure the grass sward is maintained at a suitable height for the larvae of wood white butterflies.

Reinstating coppice with standards on the edge of the ride network to ensure the habitat is optimal for the survival of wood white butterflies.

Creating new coppice with standards areas with no more than 15 standards per hectare to ensure the correct level of light and shade is present within the woodland.

The use of sympathetic tools such as a pedestrian mower, brushcutters, chainsaws, hand tools and heavy horses to minimise the impact of the management work on the ground conditions.

Undertaking practical tasks from September onwards to minimise impact on birds and ground flora.

Actively encouraging local people to participate in the conservation of Ryton Wood SSSI and the creation of suitable conditions for wood white butterfly to breed and increase its population size.

In addition to the financial support of £5,000, Carillion staff will also be involved in helping to deliver the project by joining volunteer workparties carrying out woodland management to enhance the site for wildlife.