Welcome to Matt Estlea as the latest Rycotewood craftsperson-in-residence at the Sylva Wood Centre. Instead of following the traditional approach of making a living from furniture making, Matt has begun exploring . . .
To date more than 1,100 woodland owners, agents, foresters, and businesses have taken part in British Woodlands Survey 2017. The responses represent the views of those caring for more than 100,000 ha of woodland across Britain. Open until end September we are hopeful that even more people with an interest in the future of forestry will take part before the survey closes.
Devolution, pests & pathogens, Brexit, emerging markets, climate change, societal attitudes . . . these are just some of the momentous factors influencing our trees and woodlands, those who care for them, and those who rely on their products and services. Have your say about what these and other issues mean to you by taking part in Britain’s only dedicated national survey about our woodlands and forestry: the British Woodlands Survey 2017.
Work has started constructing our new FORESTRY YARD at the Sylva Wood Centre – thanks to support from Oxfordshire Leader funding.
All of us who work with and care about trees and woodlands need to work together — intelligently and sustainably — to support these vital resources. That’s why we’ve launched the Sylva Foundation Roots Fund.
Our Trustees’ report and accounts for the last financial year 2016-17 has been published, alongside our short annual review.
The myForest team have recently joined forces with the team from the Making Local Woods Work, a partnership which helps support and grow woodland social enterprises. We have added a new category to the myForest Directory that allows businesses to highlight their social missions and for myForest users to search for social enterprise businesses.
Since launching the British Woodlands Survey 2017 (BWS2017) two weeks ago we’ve received an encouraging uptake, with 500 respondents completing the survey to date. Thank you to all those who have taken part so far, and to our many partners in helping promote the survey to their members. The survey remains open over the summer, until end September.
Several changes to the Sylva Foundation board of trustees are announced today. We welcome Sir Martin and Lady Wood as our first Patrons, Dr Nick Brown steps down as trustee, and Dr Robin Buxton is appointed to the Board.
In September there will be an archaeological excavation at the Sylva Wood Centre. This is your chance to get involved! Either just come along to one of our Open Days, and/or volunteer to join the archaeologists during the two-week excavation from 11-22 September (excluding Monday 18th). You can join the team and help dig, or identify, sort and clean finds.