Other partnerships and projects
Chopwell Wood Heritage TrailLocal community group, the Friends of Chopwell Wood [external link], in partnership with the Forestry Commission, is celebrating the heritage of Chopwell Wood with the local community. The project is part-funded by a £25K ‘Local Heritage Initiative’ grant from the Countryside Agency (now Natural England). The Friends group have planned and delivered a ‘Heritage Trail’ [pdf 3.5Mb] which highlights sites in the Wood that have a connection with the area’s mining past and link with the on-going history of timber production in the Wood. The local community has been involved in helping to celebrate this heritage through local school projects and the chance to learn old woodland skills, such as wood turning and bow-making, brought back to life by expert practitioners. Northern Grid for Learning, in partnership with the Friends of Chopwell Wood, has developed a new interactive educational resource for KS2/3. This features 18 locations around the Heritage Lottery funded forest trail. Descend HamsterleyA franchise offering mountain biking facilites at Hamsterley Forest. Find out more from the Descend Hamsterley website [external link]. Kielder District Heating Scheme A wood chip fired district heating scheme was installed at Kielder in 2004. The scheme uses locally grown Sitka Spruce, chipped to feed a 300kW Austrian Köb wood-chip boiler. The boiler supplies heat to the Forestry Commission’s Kielder Castle Forest Park Centre, six new three-bedroom homes, The Rivermead Workshops, Kielder Community First School and Kielder Youth Hostel. The hot water from the boiler is supplied to each building via a network of buried insulated pipes. Wood chips are supplied to the boilerhouse by the Forestry Commission. The system is owned and maintained by Kielder Community Enterprise Ltd. which is a community owned energy supply company.
The Kielder District Heating project has been supported by a variety of sources including the European Regional Development Fund, the Northumberland Strategic Partnership through One NorthEast, Northumberland National Park Authority, Powergen, Forestry Commission, Northumberland County Council and Tynedale Council. Visit the Kielder District Heating website [external link].
Kielder PartnershipThe Kielder Partnership is a public and private sector partnership which is developing the Kielder area as a major sustainable tourism resource and thus boosting the local economy. The partners are Northumbrian Water, Forestry Commission, Tynedale Council, Northumberland National Park, Northumberland County Council, and Calvert Trust. Visit the Kielder Partnership website [external link] North East Community Forests North East Community Forests [external link] is a regional charity supported by the Forestry Commission, local authorities and other partners which aims to ensure that there are easily accessible woodlands and green spaces in and around our towns and cities that all people from all communities can use, enjoy and benefit from. Their principle projects are the region's two Community Forests, The Tees Forest [external link] and The Great North Forest [external link].
The Teesforest is located around the fringes of the Teeside conurbation, (including Darlington) and The Great North Forest occupies part of Tyne and Wear and County Durham. Since they were established over 15 years ago they have achieved a steady expansion of woodland cover and greenspace. Regional Forestry ForumThe Regional Forestry Forum is made up of all of the key organisations with an interest in forestry in NE England and that have a part to play in the delivery of the Regional Forest Strategy. It provides a focal point for exchange of information and discussion of key issues facing the sector. It also has a role in developing and monitoring the Regional Forest Strategy Delivery Plans. Groundwork NorthumberlandGroundwork Northumberland [external link] works to promote environmental regeneration and improvement in Alnwick, Blyth Valley, Castle Morpeth and Wansbeck. It works closely with communities and businesses to improve the landscape and quality of life for local people. Groundwork Northumberland is guided and supported by the Forestry Commission, local authorities and a range of other organisations. The Bloom [external link] programme is co-ordinated by Groundwork Northumberland and will enhance woodland and green spaces in the south-east of the county, building links between where people live and where nature can be enjoyed. Landscape improvements will motivate business to invest and create jobs, and a range of activities promoting health and leisure in the landscape will improve community life. Northumberland Native Woodland Project The Northumberland Native Woodland Project was initiated by the Forestry Commission in 2003 to help secure the future of the County’s ancient woodlands. The other partners are Northumberland National Park Authority, Northumberland County Council, Natural England , Woodland Trust, North Pennines and Northumberland Coast AONB’s, Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Confederation of Forest Industries. All ancient woodlands have been surveyed and an outline management plan provided to all the owners. A copy of the report [pdf 1MB], leaflet summary [pdf 1.5MB] and press coverage [external link] are available.
AONB Woodland ProjectThe Forestry Commission have provided the North Pennines AONB [external link] partnership with support to enable them to provide more information and guidance to landowners to encourage an increase in the area of native woodland and to improve native woodland condition. We are partners in the Unique North Pennines HLF landscape partnership project. This £2.7 m project includes the establishment of 200ha of native woodland together with other work including the restoration of historic structures and riverside habitat improvements. Biomass & WoodfuelThe Forestry Commission is actively promoting wood as a fuel. The National Woodfuel Strategy was launched on 28 March 2007. In the NE we play an active part in the regional Biomass Implementation Group. This group developed a business case for biomass that led to the development of the Bioenergy Development Service, now known as NEWHeat [external link], that is to be delivered by Rural Development Initiatives [external link]. NEWHeat provides information and advice to businesses interested in installing wood-fueled heating systems. Northern Kites The Forestry Commission are a partner in Northern Kites - one of the northeast of England's most high profile wildlife initiatives. It aims to return breeding red kites to the region whilst providing its communities and people with an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate one of the most spectacular elements of our wild heritage.
Northern Kites, the project that is bringing the red kite back to the northeast of England, is a partnership between the lead partners Natural England and the RSPB, and Gateshead Council, Northumbrian Water, the National Trust and the Forestry Commission supported with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Sita Trust. The Northern Kites Partners are working together to re-introduce red kites to their former breeding range in the north of England, after an absence of 150 years, and to provide opportunities for people to see these spectacular birds. This project is a world first in re-introducing kites into a semi-urban environment centred on Gateshead's Derwent Valley. 94 kites were released between 2004 and 2006 over half of which have made their home in Gateshead and the Derwent valley and several of which have already successfully reared chicks. These magnificent birds can now often be seen soaring over Chopwell wood and other Forestry Commission woods in the Gateshead area. To find out more about this project please visit www.northernkites.org.uk. Hen Harriers 2008 For the second year in a row, we are delighted to report that a pair of hen harriers [external link] are raising 5 chicks on FC land in mid Northumberland. The hen harrier is a rare and spectacular bird of prey and as far as we know these are the only chicks in the whole of north east England. In fact there are only 15 breeding pairs in the whole of England!
The harrier chicks have been ‘adopted’ by pupils at Bellingham First School who will be following the progress of the young harriers. Pupils have named the young birds: Rainbow Dancer, Blue Sky, Harriet, Speedy and Glider. Staff and children at the village school are excited that these magnificent birds are nesting not far away and are looking forward to following the chicks progress. The Forestry Commission are very pleased to be providing this safe haven on moorland within our forest and we are working very closely with the RSPB [external link] and other partners to keep these birds safe. You can see these marvellous raptors and their chicks from our video footage of the nest.
|