Woodlanders is a new enterprise in the Neroche Forest in Somerset.  It is the first social enterprise in England to take up the tenure of a part of the public forest estate, to use both for learning and training activities, and for conservation management and sustainable timber harvesting.

The background of the Neroche Scheme

I’ve worked in the Neroche Forest on the Blackdown Hills for the past eight years, as the Forestry Commission‘s project manager for the Neroche Landscape Partnership Scheme.  For a video overview of Neroche and our work over those years, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkqsDUqw-Wk.

The essence of my work at Neroche has been about inhabiting natural spaces.  I have worked with an amazing range of people to try and make a public forest richer – richer in wildlife, richer in stories, richer in experiences, and richer in the human interactions which complement its wildness.

Throughout the Neroche Scheme we tried to push the boundaries of what projects like ours could do, to innovate and take risks.   As a result we had some notable successes:

• Possibly the first truly outdoor, forest-based conference in Britain (The Woodland Edge – see http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL587F8141E1AECAA5
• One of the most highly praised local heritage books, Along the Wild Edge, which integrated local history, natural history, art and story.
• An ambitious programme of landscape-scale habitat restoration, replacing conifer plantation with open habitats grazed with Longhorn cattle (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sar9gNcaPC8)
• A genuine community involvement process, leading to the establishment of the Blackdown Hills Trust (http://www.theblackdownhillstrust.org.uk/
• A programme of woodland-based experiential and learning activity, based on the Forest Schools ethos – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8sj1HrZ7Nk
• The establishment of a vibrant local volunteering community, Neroche Conservation Volunteers.

New times, new challenges – Neroche Woodlanders

I’m now co-creating a new social enterprise in the public forest, called Neroche Woodlanders, based on a pioneering agreement with the Forestry Commission to sub-lease 100 acres of public forest at Young Wood, near Staple Fitzpaine.  We are developing our woodland learning, training and volunteering work, integrated with the management of the forest itself, using it as a resource, classroom and place of inspiration.

We believe we can complement the FC’s role by making Young Wood a place which houses more nature, more people, and more positive experiences than FC can achieve by itself.  By using a social enterprise approach we can bring innovative, small-scale business models to bear on an integrated set of activities, with the objective of making both the learning work and the woodland management, self-financing in the future.

Woodlanders is a challenging project for our small team – myself, Jenny Archard, Jilly Ould, Arainn Hawker and Caroline Newcombe – and the network of volunteers who work with us.  It demands practical, financial and project management energy, as well as a true empathy with the woods, and a preparedness to share them.

For me, Woodlanders is a practical expression of what I believe about nature in society, and the experience of trying to build it teaches me new lessons every day.