Report on the feasibility study into landscape-style community land stewardship in the south Wales valleys.
Skyline is a feasibility study funded by the Friends Provident Foundation.
Skyline is about land, people and imagination. Imagining a different future – a future in which land is managed sustainably to meet the needs of the people who live there in a way that doesn’t compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Giving communities a connection to landscape that can provide income, jobs, a place of social and cultural activity, and a home for nature.
View report here.
Other Resource
The British Woodlands Survey 2020
The British Woodlands Survey (BWS) gathers evidence about Britain’s woodlands and those who care for them. The BWS aims to provide an evidence base on which future policies and practice can be developed.
The British Woodlands Survey is coordinated by Sylva Foundation and run in partnership with a large number of organisations. Summary results are always published in a report and made freely available. Where possible data collected is also used to support peer-reviewed scientific research.
Visit the Sylva foundation website HERE to download the British Woodland Survey.
How do you compare building standards and net zero operational targets?
Good Homes Alliance and Woodknowledge Wales commissioned an energy modelling report to compare different low energy building standards. The paper seeks to illustrate how the choice of a building standard affects the amount of renewable energy generation that is required to comply with a net zero operational outcome. The report does not take into account embodied energy/carbon. All energy and carbon modelling is illustrative but based upon real archetypes.
The work was carried out by John Palmer of the Passivhaus Trust in August 2020.
The report can be down loaded here.
Biodiversity Forestry and Wood
Download full report here
State of the nation review. Performance evaluation of new homes
Woodknowledge Wales have helped fund and support a report published by researchers at Oxford Brookes University. The report has revealed for the first time a detailed national picture of the actual performance of new build homes through a detailed analysis of building performance evaluation projects.
With the UK committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, the report will provide building professionals with key insights to inform future design of homes.
Researchers have developed an online and interactive map on housing performance that shows 91 performance evaluation studies across the UK. Analysis of data on actual energy use, thermal performance, building fabric performance, environmental performance and feedback from occupants has provided insight into housing performance at scale.
New-build dwellings were found to often underperform compared to actual design specifications, with energy use up to three times higher than predicted. Heat loss around openings such as doors and windows was identified as a particular problem showing a need for developers to improve detailing, specification and workmanship.
“The state of the nation study helps us to better understand at scale, the gap between expected and actual housing performance so as to improve the design and delivery of new homes and upgrading of existing ones.“ Professor Rajat Gupta, Low Carbon Building Research Group, Oxford Brookes University
The inaugural research for the Building Performance Network, an independent not for profit organisation, was led by Professor Rajat Gupta and Matt Gregg of the Low Carbon Building Research Group, part of the School of Architecture at Oxford Brookes.
Professor Gupta said: “Understanding how in reality homes are built, used and perform is vital to ensure our national carbon targets are met.
“The state of the nation study helps us to better understand at scale, the gap between expected and actual housing performance so as to improve the design and delivery of new homes and upgrading of existing ones.
“While there have been a number of studies in recent years to examine energy performance of new homes, this report looks ahead at how the study of our homes may include a detailed picture of energy demand as well as health and wellbeing of residents using smart meters, Internet of Things based sensors and wearables.”
George Martin, Chair of Building Performance Network, said: “The UK suffers from a disjointed building performance evaluation (BPE) sector, where data are inaccessible, study methods are not clear or shared, and decisions are often made on poor or limited data. Though many studies exist, access to these studies, their findings, and most importantly the knowledge from it, is limited.
“This piece of work brings that together and makes it more available to a wider audience. Most importantly, it highlights the gains to be made from measuring and testing new homes, and illuminates a path for those that wish to undertake BPE. With a look ahead at the future of BPE, with this report, we are strengthening our message that the future of UK housing must include measuring and monitoring. We are delighted to present this work to the world.”
The full report can be downloaded here and a summary of the report’s key findings can be downloaded here.
Responding to the climate emergency with new trees and woodlands
A guide to help local authorities and landowning businesses achieve net zero
Sustainably managed woodlands perform a vital role as carbon sinks and reservoirs by capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it as a component of wood itself. Over time, the soil beneath them is enriched by adding carbon in the form of organic matter from leaf litter, branch fall and root death. In general, woodland soils have low and infrequent levels of disturbance and the total carbon content per unit area of woodland is higher than that for agricultural soils which are subject to more frequent and significant disturbance. The rate of CO2 capture is closely related to tree growth rate (or yield class – YC) and wood density, and it differs between species.
Open document here.
RFS Forestry and Climate Change
The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) has adopted a five-point plan on climate change.
RFS says that we can not wait to act on climate change until current rural land support mechanisms transition from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to the Environmental Land Managenment Scheme (ELMS) and its equivalents in the devolved administrations in 2025.
RFS say that much more can be done before 2025 to ensure there is a more supportive environment for woodland creation, that land managers are given greater flexibility on species choice on restock sites and forest soils are better protected. Governments must translate its intention to take urgent action into practical measures that private woodland owners can work with.
The Royal Forestry Society Five-Point Plan:
- Put climate change at the core of forest policy
- Focus on climate change outcomes
- Enforce biosecurity
- Provide public funding for delivery of climate benefits
- Invest in research and skills
Read the full document here
Bigger, Better Forests
Bigger, Better Forests is written by Benedict Aleenan for Policy Exchange, a UK think tank. The 90 page report covers topics such as the history of UK woodland policy, incentives, regulations, subsidies, opportunities for tree planting, stimulating demand for harvested wood products and how environmental land management services can be rewarded.
Access the full report HERE.
Access the full report HERE.
Increasing tree cover in the UK is a matter of land use policy.
This simple fact is often forgotten amid a rush to re-forest Britain through multiple schemes and interventions. This seemingly overlooks the fact that silviculture – the art and science of growing trees – is just one subset of land management.
In the last 25 years, several government-backed new forests have been established or proposed, from the mid-1990s National Forest to the most recent ‘Northern Forest’, which is to stretch across the North East and North West of England. Though laudable and important (we propose a project of our own in this report), these schemes alone are not sufficient to address more fundamental barriers to tree planting, many of which are the direct results of public subsidies for a particular model of farming.
Trees, both as a source of wood and as providers of valuable services in the landscape, have been sidelined and inadvertently disincentivised. To put it another way, they have been undervalued in the market of land uses. To ensure their proliferation in sufficient numbers to help address climate change and biodiversity loss, public policy must enable market mechanisms that value the full range of products and services that trees offer.
Tree-Related Principles for Policy Makers
Tree planting is more complicated than most people recognise. To help policy makers to approach the topic, we suggest the following principles.
1. We should use more wood from sustainable sources, especially in buildings.
Making houses and consumer products out of wood stores carbon, creates investment in trees and reduces our use of high-emissions materials like plastic, steel and concrete. Sourcing the wood from UK woodlands also protects our trees from imported pests and diseases.
2. Managed woodlands are good.
Managing a woodland can help to improve its health and resilience, maximise growth, support biodiversity, optimise carbon sequestration and improve economic returns.
3. There are many forms of woodland management and each has a part to play.
Policy should be designed to support the full range, including mature woodlands with extensive open ground, agroforestry and well designed closed-canopy plantations. Currently, some policies get the balance wrong, which complicates the sector and dissuades those who might otherwise be willing to invest in it.
4. Forestry and woodlands have a very long time-lag.
Trees are a long-term endeavour and returns take decades to arrive, which creates a problem in the short term. Policy should be designed to redress this lack of short-term cashflow. It must also plan at least three decades ahead. Policymakers should also seek to move towards market mechanisms, so that woodlands depend less on the whims of five-year parliamentary cycles and political fashions.
5. Trees do not preclude other uses of the same land.
It is possible for land to be used for a combination of timber growing, outdoor pursuits, nature conservation and farming. These practices can and should be seen as mutually beneficial, not mutually exclusive. Policy should reflect this capacity for diversity, but also recognise that many woodlands (or sections thereof) have a clear purpose – woodland should not be expected to be all things to all men.
6. Profitable woodlands beget more woodlands.
Although sensitive sites must be protected by law, we need more than just environmental protections to promote planting at the scale needed to reach net zero emissions. To ensure continued investment in trees at the scale required, there is a need for income from harvested wood and timber, tourism and payments for environmental services.
7. Forestry involves a specialist skillset.
Large parts of the UK do not have this skillset, which makes it harder for farmers to learn the skills and reap the rewards. If we want to see a transition towards more forestry, we need to support those whose communities and way of life will be affected. They need training to help them manage, conserve and/or harvest trees, as well as well-developed local supply chains that help them to sell timber and wood.
Access the full report HERE.
How the Timber Industry Can Help Solve the Housing Crisis
A report launched in November 2019 by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Timber Industries (APPG), highlights the key role timber industries can play in helping the Government meet its targets for housebuilding whilst working to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The report argues that using timber in construction is key to meeting emissions targets, and urges the Government to implement the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee by increasing the use of timber in construction.
A long-term spending commitment, reform of right-to-buy and building regulations that encourage innovation in construction are amongst the recommendations to the Government made in the report. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) have long featured in the timber industry. Timber frames are built using offsite construction methods, and are quicker, cheaper, quieter and more environmentally friendly than traditional construction methods.
In order to meet the skills requirement needed to build more homes, the report recommends that Government should place an increased emphasis on construction apprentices and invest in developing construction courses, bringing together skills development with technological solutions.
Martin Whitfield MP, chair, APPG, said:
“This report addresses an important dilemma governments have: increase housebuilding whilst reducing carbon emissions. The timber industry will provide skilled jobs, it can deliver sustainable and affordable homes and it should be at the forefront of addressing the climate emergency we face.
“Housebuilding should be part of an environmental revolution that is firmly integrated into our net-zero emissions targets. Using timber will lock carbon within homes for generations and is considerably more environmentally friendly than other core building materials such as concrete.”
Roy Wakeman OBE, chair of the Confederation of Timber Industries, said:
“We know there is capacity in the industry which can be unlocked with the right policies, regulatory framework, and partnership between the public and private sectors. By bringing together experts from across the timber supply chain – all the way from the forest to the finished house – we will be able to make an even greater contribution.”
The report follows a UK-wide inquiry the APPG launched to explore how the timber industry can contribute towards solving the housing crisis. You can download the report here.
Better Homes, Better Wales, Better World
Better Homes, Better Wales, Better World. Decarbonising existing homes in Wales.
Report to Welsh Ministers from the Decarbonisation of Homes in Wales Advisory Group. 18 July 2019
Summary of Recommendations:
1. Political parties in Wales should make a strategic commitment to national residential decarbonisation and stick to it
2. The Welsh Government should set ambitious housing targets to meet its ambition of achieving net zero carbon by 2050
3. The Welsh Government should put in place the right quality system and delivery mechanisms across all tenures to help achieve the targets
4. The Welsh Government, working with others, should develop a holistic package of support across all tenures to motivate and facilitate action
5. The Welsh Government should collect data about the status and condition of the housing stock to inform future decisions and measure progress towards targets
6. The Welsh Government should continue to monitor and test new solutions to decarbonise homes
7. The Welsh Government and its partners should make maximum use of communities, networks, associations and Third Sector organisations in helping to decarbonise homes.
Read the full report here.
