Growing Forward – Communities and Woodlands across Wales
Llais y Goedwig, the Wales-wide community woodland network, is due to hold it’s fourth Woodland Management event in Cwmbran on September 11th .
This is the culmination of several Roadshows that have toured Wales this summer helping community woodland groups to improve their woodland management skills and to network with other groups and people involved in woodlands in their local area. Each Roadshow has been hosted by a different community group and the one for SE Wales is hosted by the Blaen Bran Community Woodland Group which manages a 100 acre woodland close to Cwmbran.
One participant said that the Roadshow had a broad range of information and ideas and was very informative and clearly structured – I really came away with a lot of ideas and inspiration.
A member of the Llais y Goedwig Board said we planned the Roadshows to provide our member groups with something that really tackled their needs and it seems from the response we are getting that we have been successful. We have been really impressed with the achievements and passion we have encountered across Wales and are very excited about the potential that is unlocked when local people get involved in their woodlands. Woodland groups are working hard to secure a future for cherished woods, opportunities to tackle local energy needs, development of local employment, delivery of social activities and to enhance biodiversity.
The Roadshow features workshops and presentations to help groups understand the needs of their community and woodlands and show how these come together in active management plans which can deliver a wide range of objectives.
In parallel to this, the Roadshow features the launch of the Llais y Goedwig Climate Change Reader. Funded through an Environment Wales these the Reader is a wooden memory stick which contains more than 40 articles describing the impacts of climate change on woodlands and suggestions for how we can future-proof our woodlands and communities. Come along to the event on the 11th if you would like a copy of this useful resource!
The event on the 11th of September will culminate in a tree planting ceremony as a symbol of the way in which Coed Lleol (a partnership set up to encourage people to have a greater involvement in woodlands) has nurtured the development of Llais y Goedwig. The tree will be a Welsh provenance of Sessile Oak and will be planted in the Blaen Bran Woodlands.
If you would like to come along to the Woodland Management Roadshow, please visit the website www.llaisygoedwig.org.uk or telephone 01654 703366.
What is a Community Woodland? A Community Woodland is a woodland for people, they are managed, cared for and used by the local community, and are usually supported by a Community Woodland Group.
The woodland can be owned or leased by the group, or managed in partnership with another organisation. Community woodlands can be any woodland types, large or small, in either urban or rural areas, and vary in the level of community involvement.Llais y Goedwig is an association to support and represent community woodlands in Wales.Llais y Goedwig is supported by Coed Lleol who act as a secretariat. Coed Lleol is a partnership aimed at reconnecting people and woods in Wales and is hosted by the Small Woods Association and funded by the Forestry Commission Wales and the Countryside Council for Wales.