Coppicing at Norsey

By the Warden

As most of you are already aware, Norsey Wood has a long histoiy of being a working ancient coppice woodland, and is one of the best examples of historic woodland management in the county. Since Basildon District Council purchased it in 1974, the Wood has been managed to conserve and diversify the flora and fauna of the site, to maintain a coppice woodland structure, and also to provide access to and information for the public.

Over the years, the size and structure of the areas coppiced have changed according to the time and manpower available. To help bring some stability to the coppice management, Countryside Services have signed a contract with the Forestry Commission under the Woodland Grant Scheme, to ensure that there is an agreed plan of operations for the next five years. This contract has a number of management objectives, such as coppicing 2.5 hectares per year, constructing a dead hedge around each coppice coup, undertaking pond management, and allowing public access to the Wood. The benefits of being part of this scheme are that there is a grant of 35 pounds per hectare per year for the reserve if these objectives are met, and that the Wood is now set on a 21-year rotation. As usual, though, work involving trees is never as straightforward as it sounds, and the money received from the grant does not cover all the costs.

As many of you know, Norsey Wood is wet at the best of limes, and the recent autumn/winter period has been the wettest since records began. Since Norsey is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), there has to be as much care as is practicable when timber is extracted. Another factor to take into account (and quite an important one!) is 'Who is going to do the actual coppicing?' There is only one member of staff (me) and I have no vehicle, so it is not practical for the coppicing to be done in-house, as in previous years.

This means that contractors are used, for they have the machinery and manpower to get the job done. Problems have arisen in finding contractors, however, because unfortunately at the moment there is no money in timber. Its value is so low that the cost of extracting it is almost more than the income from selling it. Previously the timber would pay for the work to be done, but now we are having to look at paying contractors to ensure that the work gets completed.

The reason for the drop in value is the mass of unwanted timber on the market. A large amount is still left over from the 1987 storm and from last year's storms in France and Germany. This also means that contractors dealing in timber have easier ways of making their money than spending time in a nature reserve like ours, which, being a sensitive site, puts restrictions on forestry practices that could be damaging.

Another reason why Norsey is not an attractive site for contractors at the moment is that the areas in need of coppicing are neglected coppice areas of mainly Sweet Chestnut. This means that the coppice stools are quite big and are no good for converting into products, such as post and rail fencing. The only other use for the timber is as firewood or pulp, but unfortunately both these markets are glutted with timber and of little value. Once the wood is on rotation, the value of the timber will increase because it will be more of a versatile crop to use; but until that time it will be quite hard going to get the coppicing rotation completed.

These problems have affected the coppicing operations at Norsey Wood, because contractors who have started work have found better paid and easier work elsewhere, so Norsey is not at the top of their lists of jobs to be done. The way the problem has been tackled is to build partnerships with different interested parties. So, rather than having one contractor doing all the coppicing, the coups are now split up for people who can cope with a smaller amount of timber. This has meant working with groups like the Essex Wildlife Trust and local wood yards. One of the yards is of course our own at Norsey Wood, which is run by a local tree surgeon. Another is L R S Wood, who run a yard near the Noak Hill roundabout. This has worked very well, and it also means that all the timber is being used and sold locally.

I hope this article has shed some light on the coppicing management at Norsey Wood, and given you an idea of the problems we have experienced. I would like to say a big thank you to all the work party volunteers who have helped build the dead hedges around the coups and extracted bridge building material. Without their help this important part of woodland management, which ensures a greater diversity of flora and fauna, would not be possible.