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Report 1 (of 6): Urban Jungle
- UK
Introduction
Forests perform a wide range of functions,
including watershed protection, soil conservation,
timber and non-timber products, climate stabilisation
and carbon storage. They are vital to the health of
our planet. Yet the loss of natural forests around
the world continues to be a major environmental concern,
not only in terms of biodiversity loss, climate change
and land degradation, but also because of the waste
wood produced as a result of deforestation. Wood waste
from trees, in the production of timber or paper products
for example, represents a significant disposal problem
for many countries. A large proportion often ends
up buried in landfill sites or is burned. Reducing,
re-using and recycling wood waste can provide a more
environmentally friendly solution to traditional dumping.
The UK government's determination
to encourage greater reuse and recycling of waste
wood, by increasing the landfill tax, has led many
local authorities to seek alternative solutions. The
London Borough of Croydon, has been transforming the
problem of urban wood waste into a solution of jobs,
profits, and alternative energy since the late 1990's.
In a collaborative project between Croydon Council
and the independent environmental organisation BioRegional
Development Group (BDG), it has made Croydon the first
UK borough to have obtained Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC) certification for both its woodland, street
and park trees.
Wood Waste
Reducing waste and increasing re-use
and recycling of timber could help meet the increasing
demand for wood without further impacting on the world's
forests and tree species. Opportunities for recycling
wood waste include:
- Greater use in particle board and
Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) manufacture.
- Increased use in landscaping and
horticultural applications as mulch.
- As a bulking material and carbon
source in the manufacture of compost.
- As a pulp material in the manufacture
of paper.
- As a fibre source for wood-plastic
and fibre-cement composite materials for use in
the construction industry.
- As animal bedding.
- As a fuel source or feedstock for
the manufacture of charcoal.
London alone is estimated to generate
approximately 60,000 tonnes of tree surgery waste
each year, of which around half is dumped in landfill
sites and just over 10 per cent is burned. In recognising
the benefits that trees bring to the local environment,
Croydon Council, managing one of the most wooded boroughs
in London is seeking to protect existing trees and
plant new ones for the benefit of future generations.
Croydon's management plan for its
'urban forest' involves the clearing of considerable
undergrowth, and the removal of non-native species.
These trimming operations result in the generation
of vast quantities of wood waste and quite a serious
disposal problem. Seeing an opportunity to implement
sustainable tree management, the BioRegional Charcoal
Company (a BDG project) worked closely with the Croydon
Council to develop a program that would divert the
wood from the waste stream while creating revenue
and jobs.
Its solution was to convert the wood
waste into FSC certified fuel products such as firewood,
charcoal, and wood chips, which could then be sold
to municipal purchasers requiring the FSC label. The
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) requires the minimisation
of harvesting waste in forests that it certifies as
being well managed. The Borough of Croydon has public
access woodlands, parks and street trees certified
by the FSC covering approximately 498 hectares (1230
acres).
Useful Products from Waste Wood
In Croydon, the answer to bulky waste
wood has been to set up an urban TreeStation. A TreeStation
is a site where local woodland and tree managers and
owners can bring their waste wood, rather than sending
it to landfill. The TreeStation in Croydon regularly
takes delivery of local tree surgery waste and harvested
woodland timber. This is then processed into useful
products such as charcoal, firewood, sawn timber,
fence posts, compost and woodchip.
TreeStations produce environmental,
social and economic benefits, which provide:
- a commercially viable use of local
timber;
- a focal point for users of forest
products;
- centres of local excellence in
sustainable forest management;
- maximum environmental benefits
from woodland, for example by concentrating their
attention on restoring management to ancient and
semi-natural woods; and
- a regional or local scale of operation
that minimises the environmental impact of transporting
timber and wood products, and increases benefits
to people working and living locally.
A TreeStation is useful where there
are woods and trees that are not being properly managed,
and are especially valuable where many owners each
have responsibility for a relatively small number
of woods and trees. TreeStations act as a catalyst
for sustainable forest management through the development
of new wood using industries that match the available
woodland products.
Croydon's TreeStation
Croydon's woodlands, like many in
Greater London, are highly valued by local people
who use them as a place for quiet enjoyment. Until
the partnership between BioRegional and Croydon Council
began there was limited practical management work
done within the woodlands. Many areas previously managed
as coppice were overgrown and the variety of light
and shade and young and old trees was lost.
The project has now restored active
management to four woods in the borough. Cycle paths
have been restored, coppicing has restarted (see glossary
for definition) and unwanted invasive tree species,
such as sycamore, are being gradually removed. Cutting
the coppice every 7 - 10 years allows sunlight to
reach the ground, enabling woodland flowers to flourish,
along with the butterflies that feed on them.
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The first delivery of woodchip from Croydon TreeStation
to the BedZED Development |
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BioRegional has carried out much of
the practical work alongside friends groups from the
local community. The British Trust for Conservation
Volunteers (BTCV) also assisted by carrying out ecological
monitoring. The cost of the work has been surprisingly
modest. Full advantage has been taken of grants available
from the Forestry Commission and timber has been sold
for pulpwood or firewood or converted to charcoal for
sale through BioRegional Charcoal Company.
The result has been a rapid return
of spring flowers such as primroses and bluebells
in the coppiced woodland and the restoration of other,
less obvious plants and animals. The biodiversity
benefits of bringing woodlands back into management
are clear and the young shoots of the regenerating
coppice have increased variety and interest for people
walking in the woods.
Urban Regeneration
Trees don't only grow in woodlands.
In an urban setting like Croydon, trees along streets
and in parks and gardens are vitally important. Croydon
Council manages its urban trees through regular inspection
and maintenance. This, together with the planned management
of the borough's woodlands, has enabled the council
to obtain FSC certification for the management of
all the woodlands and trees for which it is responsible.
This remains the only urban area in the world classified
as a sustainably managed forest.
Charcoal was previously made using
several hundred tonnes of timber but production has
now stopped to avoid any nuisance from smoke. Instead,
logs have been selected and sawn for timber using
the TreeStation's own small sawmill. Most of the wood
chip generated is used in a combined heat and power
(CHP) plant at the recently built Beddington
Zero Energy Development (BedZED) project, a groundbreaking
initiative of 82 eco-homes and work-spaces in South
London. The CHP requires 1000 tonnes of wood chip
annually, a figure which closely matches the wood
produced in Croydon. In this way BioRegional and its
partners are linking different aspects of sustainability,
with waste from one area transformed into a resource
elsewhere. While the Croydon TreeStation shows how
the concept can work in an urban setting, rural TreeStations
can be equally valuable.
Rural TreeStations
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BioRegional collecting coppiced wood |
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BioRegional is planning to set up the
first TreeStation in a rural area in cooperation with
Surrey Wildlife Trust and Surrey Council. In many ways
Surrey is an ideal testing ground for a rural TreeStation
as woodlands are typical of many of the problems and
opportunities found in rural areas countrywide. There
is a great range of woodland types in the county, including
coniferous plantations and importantly, a large area
of ancient and semi-natural broadleaved woodland (ASNW),
much of which has traditionally been managed as coppice.
Individual woods are often small,
with many people owning just a small area. This makes
it difficult to plan and carry out woodland maintenance
work such as thinning young tree crops, as it is hard
to sell small loads of low value timber. With only
30 per cent of privately owned woodland currently
looked after, much woodland receives little if any
attention. A Rural TreeStation could stimulate increased
management of neglected woodland by developing a market
for produce from them and providing a base for wood
using businesses.
Locally produced charcoal on sale in B&Q
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Each Treestation should be based around
a central activity such as a sawmill, charcoal production,
or woodchip for renewable energy. By drawing in material
from many small woods, rural TreeStations will be able
to select material suitable for sawn timber or other
high value uses.
BioRegional is not only working on
management of woodlands with Croydon Council. It runs
many other innovative projects that sustain the organisation's
philosophy of local production for local needs, promoting
sustainable development and appropriate technology.
These include:
For further information on these projects
please contact BioRegional directly at the address
below.
All images courtesy of BioRegional
Glossary
Coppicing is a traditional
form of woodland management that has shaped many of
the remaining semi-natural woodlands in the UK. A
coppiced wood is cut periodically, and the trees allowed
to regrow from the cut stumps (stools). Regrowth can
be very fast, often as much as two metres in a year.
Numerous shoots or poles are produced rather than
one main stem. Coppicing provides an environmentally
sustainable source of wood because periodic cutting
actually prolongs the life of the tree. It also creates
a rich mosaic of habitats, attracting a wide range
of flora and fauna.
Information on Wood Waste
Websites
http://www.fsc-uk.info/
The Forest Stewardship Council is a non-governmental
organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management
of the world's forests. FSC has developed a system
of forest certification and product labelling that
allows consumers to identify wood and wood-based products
from well-managed forests.
www.ecoiq.com/urbangreening
The EcoIQ.com Urban Greening website is for everyone
interested in making smart choices about the green
and living environments of communities -- the trees,
parks, trails, gardens, rivers, beaches, lakes, harbours,
wetlands, watersheds, and so on -- choices that are
both economically and ecologically intelligent.
www.englishcharcoal.co.uk/index.html
This site provides a unique perspective on charcoal.
Find out how charcoal makers produce quality charcoal
for your BBQ, how charcoal production led to woodland
management and why charcoal production is now good
for the environment. Enjoy images of early kilns,
coppiced trees and read a fascinating history of man's
first industrial fuel.
Acknowledgements
ITDG would like to thank Jennie
Organ and Chloe Benson at BioRegional for their help.
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