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Until recent years much of our native woodland has been left untouched.  With concerns over climate change, carbon emissions and excessive use of paper goods we have all been encouraged to ‘love’ our trees, but a contemporary rethink backed by organisations such as the RSPB, Friends of the Earth and the Wildlife Trust is encouraging woodland management and the use of wood as fuel.  Surprisingly, felling trees and burning wood could actually be good for the environment.

British woodland had been managed intensively for centuries.  It had been used for fuel, building houses and ships, but over the last 50 – 100 years or so our woodland has been left untouched.  There are several benefits to managing woodland, it lets more light into the woods and wildlife flourishes in managed woodland.  Good management can assist nature by producing an edge habitat (ecotone), and encourages biodiversity.  Managing woodland by felling, thinning and replanting creates an ecosystem from high canopy down to grass and brings balance between open clearings, woodland rides and mature woods. Benefits of woodland management include:

- renewable production of building materials and firewood

- reduced carbon emissions from fossil fuels

- improves or produces new habitats for wildlife

Coppicing is the best way to produce firewood.  The tree is cut approximately 15cm above ground which allows the root stock to re-shoot leaving the tree with several stems.  Most broad-leaf trees will coppice such as hazel and ash.  Ash is even good as firewood when green.  (If you have a wood burner or open fire and live near woodland it could be worth speaking to the owners to see if you could collect unwanted wood as a way of cheaply supplementing your own fuel stocks). 

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trees coppiced 15 years previously, and ready for coppicing again

Wildlife such as bats, birds and butterflies benefit from managed woodland.  The Pearl Bordered Fritillary prefers sites 2 to 4 years after a woodland clearing has been formed.  This the time when the food plants and nectar sources are optimal for this species. However, these sites can quickly become overgrown and, unless there is suitable habitat nearby, colonies will tend to die out.

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Burning Wood

How does burning wood help the environment?  As the tree grew it absorbed carbon dioxide, as it is burned it gives off heat and carbon dioxide which is in turn is absorbed by other trees.  If a tree dies it rots and gives off carbon dioxide anyway, so by burning the wood the same carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere but through a different process.  If the wood is locally sourced it is also economical as well as ecological.

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Local estates can manage their own heating and woodlands as well as contribute to the forestry industry and local environment.  Although not as easy as purchasing gas, oil or coal it does find a use for woodland ‘thinning’ from coppicing which would normally have very little value.  The wood can be chipped for modern wood burners and can work out considerably cheaper than fossil fuels and of course it is renewable.  When managed, it is a sustainable, low carbon and renewable source of energy as trees are constantly harvested and replanted.

A recent estimate claims 60% of woodland in England has been left untouched, which gives a potential of two million tonnes of fuel available, enough to heat as many as a quarter of a million homes; but as many new homes do not have chimneys this wood fuel would not be suitable for everyone.  There have been some concerns regarding air quality as burning wood does release fine particles into the air, but the government is aware this and it will be taken into consideration with the design of woodstoves and burners.

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Woodland is already available and wouldn’t involve any change of land use.  Some woodland management already produce their own charcoal.  Usually the timber used to produce charcoal results from the sustainable management of the woodland and is a by-product of this process.  Non-native, invasive trees species such as sycamore are removed and replaced with more wildlife friendly species like oak and rowan, and species such as the sycamore are then used to produce charcoal.

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By selling off wood for fuel the finance raised sustains the management of the woods. Using wood alone as a fuel is not a complete answer, but combined with other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind it could make a considerable impact on carbon emissions and help the environment.