The role of farm woodland

Abstract

Ed. by P. J.Burgess, E. D. R. Brierley, J. Morris and J.Evans. 202 pages. Oxford, UK: Bios Scientific Publishers Ltd, 1999. £30.00 p/b. ISBN 185996 133 9 This collection of papers presented at the ‘Farm Woodlands for the Future’ conference at Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, UK in 1999 covers various aspects of the development and promotion of farm woodland in the context of its socioeconomic role, economics, value for shelter, biodiversity and landscape, and agroforestry. To begin, a senior MAFF employee (Coates), involved in policy development, discusses the role of the UK Government in encouraging farm woodland and rural development, giving useful statistics on areas planted to woodland under farm woodland schemes (FWS and FWPS), and pinpointing key targets for future regulation and grants. The rapid change in farmers’ attitudes to afforestation in the Republic of Ireland is discussed by Bulfin: grants and premiums offer powerful incentives to plant, ensuring a secure income. Moving to The Netherlands, the current participation of farmers in set-aside, nature conservation and landscape management is set by Wiersum & van Laar in the perspective of the social role of farm woodland in the last two centuries. Hislop and co-workers deal with the role of the Farm Shelter Audit in the assessment of woodland shelter needs, and the pros and cons of new woodland and woodland biodiversity are discussed by Kirby and co-workers. Continuing the theme of biodiversity, Helliwell describes a simple method of valuation of biodiversity based on ‘ancientness’, vascular plant species content, structure and geographical relationships to other habitats. In ‘Landscape valuation of farm woodlands’, Thomas & Price suggest that traditional environmental economics are unlikely to give reliable monetary values; instead, subjective landscape evaluation scales might be transformed onto a monetary scale based on the cost of travel to different landscapes. Burgess and co-workers describe the four systems which they established at UK demonstration sites: poplar and traditional broadleaf woodland; and two agroforestry systems. Although the adjusted net cost of the silvoarable system seemed the highest, trees were incorporated into an arable landscape relatively inexpensively, with concomitant environmental benefits. Blyth (‘Developing a methodology for assessing the financial viability of farm woodlands’) describes a system that serves as a realistic-looking guide to the relative financial viability of a range of woodland systems. Hyttinen & Niskanen describe their guidelines for aiding the necessary development of tools to measure, monitor and compare the economic sustainability of forestry in the EU. Sanders looks at the effect of woodlands on farm valuations from the viewpoint of an estate agent: benefits are greatest where agricultural productivity is high; effects are positive where woodlands add to shooting, shelter and landscape, but public access may have a negative effect. In ‘Adding value to farm timber’ Jenkins comments that selling timber as square-edged stock or hardwood strip flooring greatly increases its value. McAdam, considering agroforestry as a sustainable land use option, reviews research in the UK and comments that agroforestry can contribute to sustainable rural development and that silvopastoral systems also enhance biodiversity, improve the physical environment and benefit animal welfare. Two papers each consider a single species. Growth of poplar is less profitable than agriculture on land in the UK, according to Thomas and co-workers who describe a bio-economic model which can be used to examine the impact of government intervention and other factors. Dawson discusses the social, environmental and economic value of short-rotation coppice willow, Salix, as an energy crop: the costs of establishing coppices, and of producing energy on the farm are marginal; bio-remediation treatment of waste based on willow-coppicing brings additional benefits. There are three reviews of the roles of various bodies (planting by the latter two is only limited) in the promotion of farm woodland: the Forestry Commission (Rollinson); community forests (Feline); and the National Forest (Williams). Farm woodlands for the future is not a textbook on farm-woodland management. Clearly there are gaps (how to plant and nurture young trees, for example), but anyone interested in farm woodlands should read this collection of highly relevant up-to-date material.