Woodlands on the Blenheim Palace estate are a good example of how to strike the right balance between the production of timber and the promotion of wildlife.

For if woodlands are neglected, they are a waste of a precious resource for commercial use and also of a resource for the well-being of mammals, insects, birds and plants.

Blenheim is one of the largest privately owned estates in Oxfordshire with 12,000 acres of land, including 2,000 acres of woodlands.

Over a year, the estate at Woodstock harvests about 2,000 tonnes of timber, mostly conifer and some oak for fencing, ship building, furniture and the building trade.

Forester on the estate is Paul Oris, who is also rural enterprises manager. He said: “Our woodlands are under a Forestry Commission management plan and we are independently certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council to ensure we manage our woodlands in a sustainable way from the environmental point of view.”

This means the working woodlands at Blenheim have re-planting programmes to maintain continuous growth of trees and supply of timber, all of which benefits wildlife.

In other words, timber production and wildlife conservation are compatible with each other.

Trees and woodland have been part of our landscape for at least 1,000 years.

Paul pointed out that although the Blenheim estate as it is known today is approximately 300 years old, the woodlands in fact go back much further.

“We are part of the remains of the ancient Wychwood royal hunting forest, which at one time covered virtually all of west Oxfordshire,” said Paul.

This was underlined when a survey of veteran trees was undertaken in the region and Blenheim woods were found to contain about 900 oaks that were several hundred years old.

“These old oaks are very important for wildlife and they support several endangered or threatenend species of beetles and fungi,” said Paul.

So intrusive younger trees like sycamore, ash and willow are pruned out or felled to help the oaks to continue to thrive.

Paul added: “We have a particular focus on our ancient woodland here. It is worth remembering that Britain has more ancient woodlands than most of the rest of western Europe.”

He and his colleagues liaise with several organisations, including the Sylva Foundation, a charity based in Little Wittenham, which advises landowners on sustainable woodland management.

Alistair Yeomans, director of forestry for Sylva, said: “Blenheim is a good example in Oxfordshire of woodland management that achieves the balance between timber production and timber conservation and the conservation of wildlife.

“Paul is very definitely aware of the needs of sustainable woodlands in terms of timber production and maintaining the biodiversity of the environment.”

So growing trees for timber and enhancing wildlife habitats go hand in hand and are both necessary.

For, as Tim Shardlow, director of forestry for Nicholson’s Nurseries at North Aston, near Bicester, pointed out, Britain will never be self-sufficient in producing enough timber for all our needs. Britain has to import about 90 per cent of its timber requirements.

“In this country we have only about 12 per cent of woodland cover compared with a country like France that has around 30 per cent,” said Tim.

One of the reasons for our lack of woodland is that so many trees were felled for use in the First World War, 1914-1918.

In the following years, the Forestry Commission was founded to promote the planting of new woodlands to help replace what was lost in the war years.

This led to the planting of vast conifer woods, which effectively increased the capital value of land holdings in the countryside.

However, while conifers still have a place in our overall timber production, there has been a move in more recent years to plant more native broadleaf trees.

Tim added: “Nicholson’s have been helping farmers and landowners in the creation of new areas of woodland for nearly 30 years. We are able to help landowners apply for Government funding under the English Woodland Scheme.”

As well as advising on the development of new woodlands, Nicholson’s also assists in woodland management, including several estates in Oxfordshire.

“When an old, dark and neglected woodland is cleared of dead wood and tree canopies are opened up to let in more daylight and sunlight, then a result is that woodland flowers such as wood anemone and bluebell that have not been seen there for years return and thrive,” he said.

Tim is secretary of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire region of the Royal Forestry Society, a national charity that encourages the wise management of trees and woods.

Membership is open to interested individuals, not just landowners and farmers, and several events are organised over a year, including visits to woods. And as David Rees, director of the Oxfordshire Woodland Project, pointed out: “More and better managed woodland leads to better conservation for wildlife.”

l For more information on the Royal Forestry Society go to www.rfs.org.uk or email rfshq@rfs.org.uk