nurturing a wood culture, growing a future
The public launch event of our OneOak project was featured on local and regional BBC coverage today. BBC Radio Oxford broadcast an interview with Sylva Chief Executive Gabriel Hemery during their breakfast show, as did BBC South TV. During the evening, a live interview was broadcast on Radio Oxford, and a short feature on regional…
Today the OneOak tree was felled and the OneOak project launched publicly. Over 400 people braved the snow and sleet to walk into the wood on the Blenheim Estate. Two hundred and fifty primary school children displayed work that they had been doing on the project for other guests to see. Hot chocolate, brewed on…
Today was probably the busiest day so far at the woodland on the Blenheim Estate where the OneOak has been growing for the last 160 years. Tomorrow will be even busier when the OneOak tree will be felled in front of 400 guests, including 250 primary school children and many of the future users of…
We have been working closely with the Silvanus Trust in South West England to develop a regional myForest Service. The concept is that regional NGO partners will administer myForest locally and support woodland owners. We hope to take this forward with other regional partners across Britain during 2010.
The OneOak tree was laser scanned today as part of ongoing research making it one of Britain’s most studied trees. The laser scanning research was supported by Treemetrics and the equipment and work was brought to the site by Leica Geosystems and scanning specialists SCCS; the foremost provider of innovative solutions in surveying, monitoring, setting…
The felling of the majestic oak tree on the Blenheim Estate, under our OneOne project, is now just one week away. Many artists have been working for some time on the project, to capture the beauty and character of the tree and surrounding woodland. To read more visit our dedicated blog to the OneOak project:…
Today, SYLVA gathered together ten leading forestry experts at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford. This was the final step in completing an EU research programme undertaken as part of our think-tank work. The research programme is entitled Prospects for the market supply of wood and other forest products from areas with fragmented…
Top London-based photographer Sam Scott-Hunter spent a freezing afternoon today capturing the beauty of the OneOak tree after the recent heavy snowfall. Sam will be creating an album of images that we will share online soon. We will also be working with him to capture the beauty of the wooden products that are made from…
Artist Rebecca Hind has been visiting the OneOak tree regularly (see previous post). She has braved freezing temperatures and long nights to watch the tree as it changes through the seasons and through the time of the day. Rebecca’s most recent sketch show here was inspired by a full moon. “Our most recent full moon.…
Gabriel Hemery reports with Jo Clark on field trials established in 2003 to test five walnut hybrid varieties. Planted within an innovative silvicultutral mixture, five years on, some have shown outstanding growth. The relatively fast growth of this hardwood-producing tree may prove to be a valuable component in some new plantation woodlands, particularly short rotation…