Training Opportunity: Woodfuel Quality Standards

Can you afford not to be up to date with BSL compliance and sustainability criteria?

Keep up to speed on the latest developments in woody biomass standards and specifications.

Why attend?

The Ignite Woodfuel Quality Standards course is essential training for anyone involved in the production of woodfuel.  

It includes the latest information on how to maintain compliance with the Biomass Suppliers List (BSL) and RHI land use and sustainability criteria, it provides a commercial insight into quality assurance and third party schemes such as Woodsure and ENPlus and provides a technical introduction to specifications and standards in use for woody biomass fuels including ONORM, BS-EN and BS-EN-ISO.

This one day course covers the key legislation and sustainability criteria which need to be considered during the production and specification of woodfuel. 

The day is divided into four sessions, including an outdoor based practical and demonstration:

• BS EN and BS EN ISO Standards
• Specifying Woodfuel 
• Chipping & Sampling
• Fuel Quality Assurance including meeting BSL requirements

The full course content can be accessed here.

The course is delivered by our qualified and experienced trainers with over 10 years of experience in delivering Ignite woodfuel training courses. 

Cost

This one day course costs £150+VAT* which includes the LANTRA Awards certification fee, course materials, lunch and refreshments.

* Members of Woodsure, the Wood Heat Association and the Confor Woodfuel Suppliers Group can take advantage of a 10% discount on course fees - just let us know at time of booking.

Ignite courses are accredited with LANTRA Awards and course fee includes certificate of attendance.

If you would like further information on any of our courses, please contact:

Erica at erica.spencer@ruraldevelopment.org.uk

or on 01765 609355.

For further information on events and courses being run by RDI, please click here.

Making Woodland Work: How grants can help your forestry business

FREE Woodland Trust event - Technical Workshop for Woodland Practitioners

Another event for you - this time by the Woodland Trust on May 22nd.

All details are below.  Please contact Jim Smith-Wright for more details and to book places.

Forestry Commission - Preliminary Grant Offer for woodland management options under Countryside Stewardship

From 2015 Countryside Stewardship will include support for forestry. 

Workshops will be held later in the year in partnership with Natural England to provide details of the full range of grants and how the new systems will work.

To maintain momentum in the forestry sector the Government has approved a “Preliminary Grant Offer” (PGO)  for:

• Woodland creation (i.e. grants for planting new woodland) Note: Your initial application for woodland creation must be received by the FC no later than 30th April to allow time for site visits. Your final application must be submitted by 31st May
• Woodland management plans (i.e. payment for preparation of a long term management plan)
• Woodland tree health (e.g. grants for restocking woodland that has been subject to a pest or disease)

The Forestry Commission would like to invite you to either of the following seminars taking place in South East England.

Tuesday 10th February at Godstone Village Hall (also known as White Hart Barn) in east Surrey.

Tuesday 17th February at Theale Village Hall, nr Reading.

The seminars are free, but spaces are limited and subject to first come, first served. Please use the links to ‘eventbrite’ above to book your place

OUTLINE AGENDA:

Registration from 9.00

9.30   Welcome, introductions and context of the Preliminary Grant Offer

9.40   Scope of the Preliminary Grant Offer:

• Timeline
• Option Groups (including eligibility and thresholds)
• Capital items and options

10.00 Guidance and forms

• Information sources
• Application process

10.20 Break

10.40 Scoring Woodland Creation

11.05 Questions

11.20 DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) Sustainability Criteria for woodfuel

11.35 Woodland Management Plans - Best practice

11.55 Support for Forestry Business Development – Leader, Local Enterprise Partnerships, etc

12.15 Questions

12.30 Close

Development of Forestry Businesses - FREE Demonstration Workshops

The Forestry Commission will deliver three demonstration events in November.  

These are designed to illustrate how three forestry businesses located in the South East have grown over the last seven years and how Rural Development Programme England (RDPE) support has helped facilitate this growth.

The events are described below.  Contact and booking details can be found at the end of the article.

Friday 7th November – Balcombe Estate nr Crawley

Balcombe Estate has a long history of integrated woodland management maintaining their estate sawmill and pursuing new markets for wood products. 

RDPE support has helped them build their woodfuel supply business, including supporting the purchase of a 360 mounted harvester in partnership with a nearby estate. They are currently exploring how they can grasp the growing interest in locally grown timber by upgrading their sawmill and marketing. 

As they grow their business they are also exploring how they can work collaboratively with complimentary businesses and neighbours.

This event will include:

• First hand experience of a previous grant recipient
• A walking tour and demonstration of harvesting/firewood processing
• Lunch and refreshments

This event will illustrate how entrepreneurial management and enthusiasm can grow forestry business in lowland England and how RDPE support and collaboration can help accelerate this process. 

This event will be of particular interest to anyone exploring how they can grow their forestry business in SE England. 

Registration from 9.45am for a 10am start. Lunch will be provided.

Tuesday 18th November - H G Matthews Brickworks nr Chesham

H G Matthews illustrates how a local business with high energy needs has developed the use of locally sourced wood as a fuel along with the supply chain to meet their needs. 

This event will be of particular interest to local businesses considering use of locally grown wood, contractors who are looking to expand or establish woodfuel supply chains and owners exploring options for woodfuel supply. 

This event will include:

First hand experience of a previous grant recipient

• Walking tour of the brickworks
• Lunch and refreshments at a nearby public house. 

Space is restricted and so we can only accommodate 20 individuals at this event. Only one person per company/organisation please. 

Registration from 9.45am for a 10am start. Lunch will be provided.

Thursday 27th November - Brockwood Park Farm nr Petersfield

Brockwood Park Farm illustrates how woodlands on farms and estates can be managed cost effectively to deliver woodfuel to heat the owner’s, neighbours’ and/or local business properties. 

Heating oil is becoming ever more expensive and few people realise that a tonne of seasoned wood can deliver as much heat as 350 litres of heating oil and you may be eligible for support from the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive.

Alex Morton at Brockwood Park has carefully considered his options and brought together a package of equipment, infrastructure and skills to help him manage his woods extremely well and supply woodfuel to the adjacent school as well as heat his home. He is now exploring opportunities to extend his forestry management with neighbours.

This event will include:

• First hand experience of a previous grant recipient
• A walking tour of woodfuel processing site

Registration from 9.45am for a 10am start. 

As these are ‘on site’ visits spaces are limited and hence early registration is encouraged. To book please click here.

Plant health - new grant and revised guidance from Forestry Commission

Source: Wikipedia

New support is now being offered by the Forestry Commission through a new Plant Health Woodland Improvement Grant (PH WIG) which brings together a number of previous plant health support mechanisms. 

Additionally the FC will be retaining Woodland Regeneration Grant (WRG) where the restocking is following defined Plant Health issues. 

The respective new and updated guidance is available via the following links:

Plant Health Woodland Improvement Grant

Woodland Regeneration Grant

Plant Health WIG

The PH WIG brings together elements of the following previous grant support:

• Removing Rhododendron within 3km of Phytophthora ramorum and kernoviae infections (which is mainly affecting south west England, although there is one reported outbreak site in Kent near Ashford).
• Removing P.ramorum infected immature larch paying a site fee to cover the costs of professional help in implementing harvesting plans for P.ramorum infected larch

Source: Wikipedia

This new PH WIG also replaces elements of the previous WIG for removal of recently planted ash on Chalara fraxinea infected sites.

This grant is designed to cover the infections mentioned above and any subsequent plant health disease the Forestry Commission decides requires action that can be funded through EWGS.



Plant Health WRG

Due to the significant uptake of WRG in previous years and the need to maintain funding for other, higher priority, grant types, funding for WRG is
now limited to the 14/15 and 15/16 years to restocking sites related to plant health issues only. The revised guidance sets out: 

Source: Wikipedia

• Revised eligibility requirements for WRG in relation to Plant Health payment rates and available claim years
• Extension of the Plant Health related supplements to include Chalara infected sites

Britain's forest area close to 3 million hectares

The Forestry Commission has published new maps and statistics showing that Great Britain has about two and a half times more forest and woodland than it had 100 years ago.

They show that Britain has almost 3 million hectares (7.5 million acres) of forest and woodland, representing 13 per cent of the total land area, and equivalent to almost 4 million football pitches. 

It is estimated that a century ago woodland cover was between only 4 and 6 per cent.

The new reports and maps form part of the National Forest Inventory (NFI), and show that, at 31 March 2011:

• Great Britain had 2,979,354 hectares of woodland;
• England had 1,292,372ha (10% of the land area);
• Scotland had 1,383,410ha (18%);
• Wales had 303,572ha (15%);
• 42% of woodland comprised mostly conifer species
• 37% mostly broadleaved species
• remaining 21% comprised mostly mixed conifers and broadleaves; and
• the Forestry Commission managed 807,288ha, or 27%, of Britain's woodland, with other owners managing the remaining 2,172,066 hectares, or 73%

The woodland area information comprises separate reports for Britain, England, Scotland and Wales. The England and Scotland reports include regional breakdowns. 

They, and other NFI products, can be downloaded free from the NFI area of the Forestry Commission website.


Britain's woodland cover had declined to an estimated 4-6% by the beginning of the 20th century after thousands of years of forest removal for fuel, timber, industry, farming and settlements. 

It has been expanding since the 1920s as successive governments have encouraged new forest planting. Reforestation programmes initially focused on re-establishing a strategic reserve of home-grown timber. However, policy has evolved to focus on creating a multi-purpose woodland resource also encompassing environmental protection (including climate change mitigation and adaptation), wildlife conservation, public recreation and health, and community development.

The NFI is based on measurement of all rural and urban woodland areas of 0.5ha or greater in size. Its predecessor, the National Inventory of Woodland & Trees (NIWT), compiled in the late 1990s, measured only the total area of woodlands of 2ha or greater, and estimated the total area of rural woodlands smaller than 2ha, based on a sample.

The current NFI is being compiled over the five years 2009 to 2014 from satellite imagery, aerial photography and field surveys; Forestry Commission, NRW and owners' records; and data analysis. 

The full suite of NFI outputs will include reports on woodland area, health and condition; timber, carbon, biomass and species content; various woodland uses and facilities; and forecasts of how some of these aspects could change over the coming decades under different scenarios.

It enables the Forestry Commission, Natural Resources Wales and other environmental, land and infrastructure authorities to track changes over time - crucially, in the health and condition of trees, woods and forests - and provides essential, up-to-date information on which to base advice, guidance, planning and management decisions.

Major update to the myForest service

The Sylva Foundation has announced two major updates to the myForest service.

For those who are unfamiliar with the service myForest is a free online tool for woodland owners, forestry businesses and wood users. The tools enable users to easily set-up a sustainable woodland management plan and also help with the marketing of home-grown forest products.

The recent updates to myForest include an enhanced management planning template that links with Forestry Commission England.  The mapping tool within myForest have also been improved and is now fully functional online GIS.

New Management Planning template

The myForest management plan template has been update to reflect the recent changes implemented by Forestry Commission England (FCE).  myForest  now enables the creation of management plans as part of the Woodland Planning Grant.  

These changes incorporate a number of benefits:

• more user-friendly template
• the template that allows the creation of a management plan that is compliant with the UK Forestry Standard
• provides the woodland owner with felling permissions for 10 years as part of the management plan.
• compliance with new regulations including EU Timber Regulations.

New Mapping Composer

The updated mapping composer within myForest is a simple Geographical Information System (GIS).  It allows the user to add layers and labels to a map which can be printed off or saved on your computer, and saved as in pdf format.

The maps generated can be used to provide felling permissions as part of a management plan or to support an application for a standalone felling licence.

Forestry & Wood Fuel Update - April 2014 - Free Event

The Woodfuel Pathfinder will deliver its next event at Kingston Barn on the evening on April 1st.  Full details can be found below.

To register for the event please use this link.  

Alternatively please call the AONB Unit on 01303 815 171.

Forestry & Woodfuel - Market Update - FREE evening seminar

The Kent Downs Woodfuel Pathfinder, in partnership with the Forestry Commission and the Deer Initiative, will present an update on the forestry and woodfuel sectors in Kent on November 20th.

This free event will focus on the changes taking place in the forestry sector and provide insights into future opportunities.  

In particular the event will look at how improving markets for chip wood, in part stimulated by a new biomass power station in East Kent, may require  enhanced mechanisation and collaboration among forestry businesses.

The event will take place at the Grasshopper Inn at Moorhouse on the A25 near Westerham.  The event will open at 6:30 pm and will include a free buffet.

More details can be found below.

To book your free tickets please click here.

This event is funded by the EU ERDF Interreg IVa Channel project ADAFOR.

Fuelwood Open Day

Make your woodland pay its way

A step by step guide to applying for grant funding for roads projects, and to  help bring woodland back into management, has been produced by Ngage, the company responsible for managing the Woodfuel Woodland Improvement Grant (WWIG) on behalf of the Forestry Commission.

WWIG provides a valuable, government funded scheme that has been specifically designed to turn un-managed woodland into productive land.


Mike Furness, Project Manager at Ngage Solutions has written a helpful blog with a simple step-by-step guide for potential grant applicants. It is published on the Ngage website.

Mike is keen to assist woodland owners, to take advantage of this opportunity to make their woods more productive. There is money available for both road and timber projects, and Mike will be happy to talk through proposals even before an application is submitted to help candidates maximise their chances of successful application.


Ngage Solutions is administering the WWIG on behalf of the Forestry Commission in three regions: Cumbria, the South West and the South East. 


This grant is time limited, so act now to find out more about the scheme.


Contact Mike Furness, Project Manager Ngage Solutions Ltd,  on 01494 568970 or 07795 515 413, or by emailing Mike.


To find out more about Woodfuel WIG come and see the Forestry Commission at the APF show 13 1- 5 September stand G4.


For interested readers the Forestry Commission has some guidance on forest roads which can be found here. You will quickly see that it is a technical subject and in many cases it may be far simpler to just call Mike and ask for support!

Maximising Opportunities for the Forestry and Woodland Sectors

The RDPE Network, working with organisations from Forestry and Woodland sectors is holding a free workshop for members of the Forestry and Woodland Sectors on Thursday 8 March 2012 in Birmingham. 

• Location: Birmingham
• Date: Thursday 08, March 2012

This workshop provides the opportunities to discuss the recent changes to the RDPE Programme in relation to the Forestry and Woodland Sectors as well as giving you an opportunity to feed in your ideas with regards the post-2013 policy and implementation (see Draft agenda and booking form).

Please return your booking form by Friday 2 March 2012. Places are limited so return your booking form early to secure your place.

The focus of the day is discussion, so each session will provide a brief overview / case study to stimulate further dialogue.

The event is FREE to attend and refreshments and lunch will be provided.

Woodland Contractors Workshop - Nov 17th, Lenham, Kent

Kent Downs Woodfuel Pathfinder: Woodland Contractors Workshop

Dog & Bear (Lenham, Kent) on November 17^th at 7pm – Free Buffet

After many years the markets for Kent’s woodland products are improving, woodfuel is starting to provide opportunities for lower quality material (particularly at a local level) and people are increasingly recognising the value of wood as a sustainable product. 

If, as an industry, we are to take advantage of these developments we need a robust and evolving network of woodland contractors.  Appreciating that there is a huge range of business models we would like to better understand what would help existing contractors develop their businesses to respond to the improving conditions.

The workshop will also provide an update on support available to the sector including:

·         The evolving market opportunities

·         The FC’s new Woodfuel Woodland Improvement Grant

·         Grant support for machinery & business development

·         Funding for apprentices

The Kent Downs Woodfuel Pathfinder is a joint Forestry Commission and Kent County Council project (with funding from the EU ERDF Interreg IVa programme) exploring what temporary support would help the woodland industry evolve to become fully self-supporting delivering:

•              Market driven sustainable management of Kent’s woodlands

•              Maintenance of Kent’s landscape character & secure local jobs

•              Carbon lean & sustainably sourced fuel for local heat

Over 70 contractors from Kent, Surrey and Sussex are being invited to this event.  It provides an opportunity to tell us what would help YOU, learn about new initiatives and network with other companies operating in the sector. 

Places are limited.  Please email matthew.morris@kentdowns.org.uk (or call 01303 815 171) to reserve a seat.