Paradise Wood
Paradise Wood is a research woodland being established by the Earth Trust (formerly Northmoor Trust) between the villages of Little Wittenham and Long Wittenham in Oxfordshire England.
Planning for the wood started in 1992 and tree planting began in 1993.[1] The Research Woodland was originally conceived and developed by Gabriel Hemery and was established as a centre for research into the improvement of the quality and productivity hardwood trees.[2] The ultimate aim is to create a woodland of 55 hectares in area. It contains a large number of trials supervised by the Future Trees Trust.[3]
On the northern edge of Paradise Wood a small community woodland was planted in 2005 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. It was named after HMS Neptune as part of a project with the Woodland Trust.[4] It provides free public access [5] and contains some oak trials.
Research trials
- Breeding Seedling Orchard of ash established in 1993 with BIHIP.
- Provenance trial of beech established in 2005 on behalf of Forest Research and a EU research network.[6]
- A clonal trial of wild cherry established in 2005 on behalf of East Malling Research (then Horticulture Research International) as part of a research programme to develop the WildStar TM clones.[7]
- A provenance trial of walnut collected from Kyrgyzstan and 12 other countries across Asia and Europe.[10]
- A silviculture trial of walnut testing walnut in mixture with various species including nitrogen fixing trees and shrubs.[11]
- A trial of hybrid walnut.[citation needed]
Agroforestry or 'silvo-poultry'
- The Poultry In Natural Environments (PINE) experiment ran for a number years in the 2000s, where free-range broilers were reared under newly planted trees.[12] The system was reportedly very robust economically.[13]
Volunteering
In 2012, Earthwatch Institute, a global non-profit that teams volunteers with scientists to conduct important environmental research, launched a program called "Paradise Wood - Experimental Plantation in England." This unique project, run jointly by Earthwatch and the Earth Trust, allows volunteers to join studies to help forest managers grow trees successfully in light of predicted climate change.[14]
References
- ^ Clark, J. and Hemery, G. (2009) Outcomes from 15 years of hardwoods research at the Northmoor Trust. Quarterly Journal of Forestry. 103, 212-219.
- ^ http://www.northmoortrust.co.uk/home/land_science/research_overview/forest_research_at_the_northmoor_trust.pdf
- ^ http://www.futuretrees.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=17&Itemid=64
- ^ http://www.treeforall.org.uk/trafalgar/TrafalgarWoods/Otherwoods/Neptune/
- ^ http://www.projecttimescape.co.uk/timescape/vt-home/neptunewood
- ^ http://www.forestry.gov.uk/PDF/fcin082.pdf/$FILE/fcin082.pdf
- ^ http://www.bihip.org/species/cherry.html
- ^ http://www.bihip.org/pdfs_docs/oak_2003_bso_report.pdf
- ^ http://www.bihip.org/graphics/buttons/icon_acrobat.gif
- ^ Hemery, G.E. (2000) Juglans regia L: genetic variation and provenance performance. In: Department of Plant Sciences. University of Oxford.
- ^ Clark, J., Hemery, G. and Savill, P. (2008) Early growth and form of common walnut (Juglans regia L.) in mixture with tree and shrub nurse species in southern England. Forestry. 81, 631-644.
- ^ Jones, T., Feber, R., Hemery, G., Cook, P., James, K., Lamberth, C. and Dawkins, M. (2007) Welfare and environmental benefits of integrating commercially viable free-range broiler chickens into newly planted woodland: a UK case study. Agricultural Systems. 94, 177-188.
- ^ Yates, C., Dorwood, P., Hemery, G. and Cook, P. (2007) The economic viability and potential of a novel poultry agroforestry system. Agroforestry Systems. 69, 13-28.
- ^ "Earthwatch: Paradise Wood - Experimental Plantation in England".
