We are excited to launch a new scheme that will not only help support our charitable work through regular giving, but allow supporters to build a lasting affinity with a growing woodland by sponsoring their own plot: the Future Forest Friend scheme.
Future Forest at the Sylva Wood Centre
The new woodland has an original theme and aims to be a demonstration site. When we plant a tree we hope it will live and be healthy for many years – perhaps even beyond our lifetime. But, with climate change, pests and diseases threatening our woodlands, which tree species are best equipped to thrive and stand the test of time? We hope that the “Future Forest” at our Wood Centre in Oxfordshire will help find some of the answers and demonstrate best practice.
The new three hectare woodland will include a range of species in three categories:
- Natives: old and bold (e.g. birch, oak, field maple, beech, London Lime) from local sources
- Natives with new genes: from sources matched to our future climate (2-5 degrees South)
- Exotics: “outlandish, rare, and choice” – trees from far away that may do better than the Natives in future (e.g. tulip tree, Japanese red cedar, deodar, paulownia, Italian alder)
Coppice areas will also be planted including hazel, sweet chestnut and robinia. These shorter trees will produce wood that can be used within five years for products such as walking sticks, hurdles, pea sticks, fencing stakes.
How you can I get involved?
By becoming a Future Forest Friend. Your support will help us plant and maintain one of 325 plots – each measuring 10 × 10m each and containing 25 trees. And you can choose the trees in your sponsored plot, help plant them, and then access the woodland whenever you wish.
You can support the Future Forest by:
- donating £5/month for three years
OR - dedicating a plot as a wonderful unique gift for a new baby, a wedding, a special birthday, a business milestone or CSR project or in memory of a loved one – £180 one-off payment.
Find out more about the scheme and how to become a Future Forest Friend
