England’s Community Forests Conference Summary
On the 30th September 2020, the first virtual ECF conference was held via zoom bringing together forestry experts from around the UK to discuss key topics such as carbon and water as well as different work being carried out by the Community Forests, as well as plans for the future.
This year, the conference had eight speakers, covering a range of different topics.
Sir Harry Studholme, former chair of the Forestry Commission and chair of the ECF conference for the past eight years, began the event with an introduction and reflection on past conferences.
Jess Thompson, director of City of Trees, provided an update surrounding the work of the community forests and what is yet to come.
Tim Hughes from DEFRA, and Clare Olver, The Mersey Forest, delivered the results of Trees for Learning, a four-year project working with schools across the Community Forests. They also shared a useful resource pack which could be shared with schools.
Mark Broadmeadow, Forestry Commission, discussed the significance of trees for carbon sequestration and the impact this has on funding and England’s planting programme.
Chris Waterfield, Forestry Commission, reinforced this by detailing how carbon sequestration translates into the Woodland Carbon Code and how tree planting helps to tackles the climate emergency.
Rebecca Heaton, head of climate change at Drax Group, talked about the role of biomass in the UK for reaching net zero and the approach Drax have taken around biomass sustainability.
James Hepburne-Scott, director of Forest Carbon Ltd, gave an insight into how Woodland Carbon Code projects are assessed and how finance in generated.
Sir William Worsley, current chair of the Forestry Commission, detailed the exciting next steps for community forestry in England.
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This was a fantastic (online) event which brought together over 100 delegates from the tree and woodland sector
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Paul Nolan, Chair of England’s Community Forests
Paul Nolan, Chair of England’s Community Forests said; “This was a fantastic (online) event which brought together over 100 delegates from the tree and woodland sector. A host of top speakers spoke on subjects ranging from how to use tree planting in schools to connect children with nature to capturing carbon and biomass.
“We’re excited for the future of England’s Community Forests and about working together to plant millions more trees across England for the benefit of both people and planet”.