nurturing a wood culture, growing a future
myForest has launched a major sharing update, allowing all users to initiate property shares and introducing new role-based permissions for better team collaboration. myForest is a flagship project for the Sylva Foundation. Our mission is to combine forestry expertise with information technology to provide innovative solutions to the environmental challenges facing modern society. By providing…
From 1st September 2026 we will have a Start-Up bench space (for emerging makers), Incubation Unit (for growing businesses) and commercial workshop (for established businesses) available. Full details below. The Sylva Wood Centre has three workspace vacancies that will be available for young and established businesses working with wood from September. As a Member of…
In July 2026, Sylva Foundation will host Skilled. Seen., a new week-long exhibition in Oxford celebrating women, trans and non-binary people who work with wood. Woodworkers from marginalised genders are invited to bring their work into an evolving week-long show, pairing furniture making and heritage woodwork skills with talks, demonstrations and a public exhibition. Skilled. Seen.…
Sylva Wood School and Wood Centre are taking part in Oxfordshire Artweeks again this year. On Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th May 2026, from 10am-5pm, we invite you to an inspiring weekend dedicated to home-grown timber, the excellence of wood craft, and the flourishing community that brings this natural material to life. The Wood School…
We are pleased to announce another exciting collaboration between Sylva Foundation and the Forestry Commission, supporting woodland creation across England through the provision of historic environment data layers in myForest. myForest users can now access the ‘Historic Environment Opportunity Map for New Woodland’, which was launched by the Forestry Commission last year. The composite layer…
This International Women’s Day, we were thrilled to see our Woodworking and Gender project take center stage. The project was highlighted by our major funder, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, as a leading example of how to reshape the heritage skills sector. The Fund celebrated the women and marginalised communities who are reshaping spaces in…
A report has been published presenting results from a national survey exploring attitudes, experiences and actions among private land managers in relation to environmental change.
We have some great news to share from the Sylva Foundation team. Our Director of Operations, Paul Orsi, has been appointed as a Trustee for the National Forest. We are incredibly proud of Paul on his appointment. It is a well-deserved recognition of more than 25 years of expertise in the forestry and rural sectors.…
On Saturday, 21st February, a dedicated group of our orchard Cropsharers gathered in the community orchard at the Sylva Wood Centre for a winter maintenance session. Under a wintery but dry sky, six volunteers joined us to learn the essential skills needed to help our young trees thrive. The day was led by orchard expert…
Knowing what is growing in your woodland is of critical importance for sustainable woodland management. For the uninitiated, the multitude of technical terms for the different sorts of data that can be recorded, and the different ways in which individual trees and stands can be measured, may seem daunting. We’ve created this guide to simplify…