Lossenham Project Blog

In the last couple of years there have been some rather conflicting press stories associated with woodlands and forest and the international community’s ongoing efforts to slow the effects of climate change. As someone who works in the land management sector, I am regularly confronted with the confusion this creates in the British countryside!

We know that tropical forest are being felled in an unsustainable manner, and at an alarming rate. And that in Britain the Government has set the incredible target for the creation of 30,000 hectares new woodland each year for a decade in an effort to capture and lock up carbon. The headline and perhaps misleading message from these international news stories is that “tree felling is bad”, bad for the local wildlife and soils and bad for the climate.

However… as with all things in life, it is not quite that simple! Almost every ancient woodland in Britain has a history of past management by people for the commodities of the day that it could provide. Commodities such as timber, fuelwood, hunting and provision for livestock (grazing, shelter, bedding and fodder). The woodlands and associated wildlife which we so greatly value today are a product of this past activity.

Today it is estimated that only around half of the 325,000ha of woodland in the south-east is currently in active management, with many areas either undermanaged or unmanaged by their current owners. Many of these woodlands will have had a long and rich history of past activity, and unfortunately the current inactivity can result in a decline of many of the woodland plants and invertebrates that we value across the region. Through lack of recent management, many of these woodlands are becoming dark and cold places that offer fewer opportunities for wildlife. And the recent messaging about deforestation and the need to lock up carbon does not help the situation.

On balance, felling trees within a woodland in a sustainable manner in south-east England is a positive activity for people, for wildlife, for the woodland and for sequestering carbon! Much of the felled wood provides renewable timber products - many of which have long life-times and therefore store carbon. Coppice re-growth and newly planted trees are fast growing and so store carbon more rapidly than ageing trees. And the result within the woodland is temporary open space alongside tracks and rides and within felled coupes – providing light and warmth for flora and invertebrates and all that feed on them. And so felling trees is not all bad!

And so to the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) which has incredible tenure in education and promotion of sustainable woodland management over the past 135 years. The Janus Foundation was therefore pleased to recently receive an application for grant support from the RFS for a project to support woodland management in Kent. The project constitutes a three-pronged approach to support and encourage woodland management in this part of the country, but with opportunities to both expand the coverage as well implement ‘lessons learnt’ elsewhere.

And so to the three prongs:

Education - to provide a future, skilled workforce. Working with local schools to raise the profile and generate interest in woodland management as a possible career path. To include outdoor education, bringing children out in to the woodland to enthuse them about the opportunities and enjoyment from working in woodlands.

Understanding – finding and bringing together local woodland owners to better understand the factors inhibiting woodland management and to provide some solutions. In essence, what are the obstacles and how can we overcome them by working together?

Research – to develop the designs of small, cost-effective structures for drying firewood using air movement and sunshine. Through building prototypes, to demonstrate how moisture levels can be reduced in firewood in a cheap and environmentally-friendly way. (This research proposal is in response to the recent Clean Air Act – which places responsibility on the firewood supplier and the user to ensure they are burning firewood with 20% moisture content or less. Important legislation for environmental health, but we don’t want it to be a barrier to small-scale woodland management).

We are delighted to confirm that the Trustees of the Janus Foundation unanimously supported the proposal to the full value of the grant application. And we now very much look forward to working with the RFS as they embark on this three year project. And we look forward to updating you on this project along the way through this newsletter.

And if you know someone who owns an unmanaged woodland, give them a gentle nudge!

As many of you will know, common reed (Phragmites australis) is a common and widespread species in Britain, and is one of our largest native grass species, growing to 3-4m tall.  It occurs naturally throughout the Rother valley, and you will have seen that it is rapidly able to expand its coverage in suitable habitat such as drainage channels and low-lying areas of land.

At Lossenham we were recently very fortunate to receive a visit from Richard Starling, an expert on the subject of reedbed management. Richard has worked as a reed and sedge cutter in the Norfolk Broads for most of his life, managing reedbeds in some of the most important wetland conservation sites in the country. Through carefully tending and harvesting this crop of grass, the reedbeds he manages have been providing thatching materials to the industry for decades.

Richard’s visit and his associated advice has significantly expanded our knowledge of the properties required to create and manage a healthy reedbed for both reed production and for wildlife. Water is not required year-round, and contrary to what I had thought, significant periods of deep water can in fact have an unhealthy impact on the root system. Clean, flowing water is preferable, and shallow inundation in the height of the growing season (Apr-Jun) is key to a successful crop.

Not only have we learnt about reedbed management for the production of thatching reed, but also the prized features of the reed itself - a straightness of stem as well as a thick stem-wall define the quality of the reed for thatching. Early indications from existing reed at Lossenham suggests that we already have reed of good quality (wall thickness) and that ‘straightness’ will be enhanced by rotational cutting. This winter we will cut and store a few bundles of existing reed for local thatchers to come and view and assess, as we wish to invite their interest in our plans for some of the farmland at Lossenham…

Looking ahead, we will be ‘reeding’(!) the lie of the land to assess the most suitable areas on which we can produce reed for thatching, making use of existing drainage channels and low-lying areas to create the right hydrological regime for reed growth. We will trial several areas, ‘seeding’ them with our endemic reed from elsewhere on the farm, and then wait patiently for reed to further colonise before management can be introduced.

And you may well ask “why on earth are you going to have a crack at growing reeds?!”. The reasons are several-fold; all are valid and in combination are somewhat compelling! Firstly, the financial return from reed production (once established) are likely be better than existing use as grazing marsh. Secondly, it represents a productive use of low-lying land in an environment where water levels are challenging. Thirdly, the root system (rhizomes) of reed helps to create soils (peat), raising the level of the land whilst also locking up carbon in the process. And finally, managed reedbeds support a range of wildlife including iconic species such as water vole, otter and bittern.

We wish to trial reed production to assess the merits of this change in farming practice. Whilst we will be doing so under our own steam, it is highly likely that such changes in ‘crop’ in the Rother valley would attract significant positive attention from both the existing and upcoming agri-environment grant schemes. If others have already made the leap and are trialling reed production in the area, we would be delighted to hear from you and hope you will share your experiences.

And remember - this is nothing new! For thousands of years people have harvested materials from the marshes. Unfortunately we have very limited historical information about the harvesting of reed in the Rother valley, and would keenly invite anyone who has any information about past reed cutting (or perhaps sedge cutting) to please get in touch.

Did you know… that an estimated 98% of all thatching reed is imported to the UK, some of it from as far afield as China! And much of what is imported is of inferior quality to that which can be grown locally here.