Our Approach
We have four main branches to our approach:
To plant trees and help Woodlands flourish
The rate we are losing the biodiversity in our ecosystem is staggering. We have cut a lot of trees down and it’s time we planted some and began looking after our forests and woodlands better than we currently are. We’re finding ways of making planting and tree-care possible, by partnering with other organisations, enlisting the help of ‘Special Branch’, running community woodland management groups and re-investing our profits in order to do this work.
To bring people to the woods
If we are to value trees and woodlands we need to get to know them. This is why we are trying to normalise modern culture in the woods by running courses, events and community groups from our all-weather woodland space The Glade. We’re interested in extraordinary activities that aren’t already happening in woodlands, we’re trying to develop new ways of bringing people to us. It’s like fishing, but with humans.
To introduce people to modern woodland culture
Modern woodland culture, as we see it, is a multi-faceted beast. In order to make a small woodland work in this day and age one may have to know about forestry, ecology, timber processing, have an eye for business, adding value, marketing, accounting, managing people, working with community groups and more. That is a lot – but what a wonderful life! By providing the facilities, equipment and the space to explore these this realm, we are aiming to train others to get better at doing these things.
To re-establish the local processing chain
Do we have to ability to give everyone in Britain a wooden chopping board made from British wood? What about a wooden shed, or house or even a spoon? Humans use wood every day, if we are buying it from abroad it’s often much less ecologically sustainable. We believe in clustering together small wood-based businesses to form Woodland Hubs like Woodlab, which can then begin to create processing chains that are able to take a locally harvested tree, to locally made product. This creates a resilient little ecosystem of businesses that can dedicate themselves to using local timber.