Thanks. Good questions, some of which are answered in part 2 out next week. Some which there just wasn’t enough time in the space we had to cover fully. This needed up being two films rather than one because it is such an interesting subject to cover, with much detail. But briefly: There are marked track ways which are used for smaller machines to go in and harvest. The harvesting teams know to aim the felled trees towards those tracks and to avoid regenerating areas. The wood that is felled is of a size and quality that makes it financially viable for harvesting. Like most productive woodlands, there is monitoring and culling of deer and squirrel population. And the encouragement of predatory species. Also individual trees are protected at certain ages/stages.
Promising concept and really important work! My questions would be: How do you harvest without needing to destroy smaller trees to come in with machinery? How do you supply the demand for big quantities of the same wood (which I'd assume is the norm), instead of a variety of different typed qualities of wood. How do you deal with selective grazing from deer populations and invasive species, to ensure a high diversity? I'd imagine that might be really difficult in this system.
We don’t have a slot booked, but a conversation to explore some of the issues we touch on in the film sounds like a great idea. I’ll suggest it to Confor.
And what is the name of the predators he mentioned which can help control Grey squirrels? I got Pine Martin, was the other goshawk? What did he mean when he said it's not necessary its an irregular forest?
