Can you advice me on buying a patch of woodland please?

I live in England and am interested in protecting a patch of woodland or a small wood by buying it. Can anybody advice me on cost, area, generating income and anything else I should know, please.Can you advice me on buying a patch of woodland please?
This is going to be a Long Answer, so if you have a short attention span, please move on to the next answer.





You say 'protect a patch of woodland' in your question. The first advice I would give you is that if you are in the UK trees and woods need to be managed. You can not just buy a bit of woodland and leave it in the UK, because if you do it will slowly die out. It has to be managed. Similarly, you can not just do what you want with that woodland, there are strict rules and legislation (see links at end of this answer).





Traditionally since circa 1066 UK woods have been coppiced. This is a sustainable way of removing useful timber without losing the actual tree and preventing the tree getting so old that it dies, as is happening in Sherwood Forest.





Ash trees are a perfect example of this. An uncoppiced Ash Tree would be lucky to reach eighty years as it is extremely susceptible to fungal attack. When coppiced some of the more famous examples can be 900 years old.





Planted Trees (plantations) are a very modern phenomena (since 1945) before that time trees were self perpetuating. All the old trees aged 500 years plus in the UK are trees that have been managed by coppicing, this is called Primary Woodland. Coppicing means that the tree is cut down to the ground in winter. In spring it regrows from the stool (old stump). This can go on indefinitely so it extends the trees' natural life.





Strictly speaking a wood is somewhere that has been managed by a woodsman (primary woodland). Note this is a woodsman, as opposed to a Forrester who is more like a farmer of trees.





Only recently we have stopped managing woodlands in the traditional way. In fact in the 1980s ancient woodland was actually grubbed up by the Forestry Commission to make way for plantations, predominantly coniferous softwoods. They have since ceased this damaging practice and any ancient woodland left is now protected by legislation. The trees are so old now, generally oaks, that people have formed an attachment to them as they stand. However, they are probably now too old to resume coppicing so they are all approaching the end of their natural life and will die out.





Most trees in this country can not be replaced for a number of reasons, for example: oaks are afflicted by American Oak Mildew which they have little or no resistance to and it is thought to modify their ability to grow in a Woodland situation, ie being able to cope with shade and dry conditions. This tends to affect their viability.





Or another example would be the existence/absence of mycelium (fungi) in the soils which can take hundreds of years to be re-established, if at all.





Because our native trees are on the edge of their climatic range, seed production is extremely sporadic and successful growth from seed to mature tree is rare in nature. Which is why we have forests with trees that are a thousand years old, there have been no replacements; the old existing trees have not been naturally replaced by self seeded saplings.





So even if we do manage to grow trees from seed the character of a plantation will never come close to matching that of an ancient wood.





Without a change of the sentimental but ignorant attitude towards the management of woods, trees and woods will continue to die and so will all the associated flora and fauna. Trees and woods are living things, as such, they have an age limit as all living things do. People managed woods by the traditional methods of coppicing for hundreds of years which artificially extended trees' lives. What we are seeing now is just the natural end of old trees in places like Sherwood Forest.





So assuming you are prepared to learn how to manage your woodland you will gain some income from the coppiced timber, assuming that you coppice it yourself or that costs for doing so are less than selling price. Your coppiced timbers can make a premium, not as just as fuel (sticks) but in greenwoodworking products.





There are many land agents who specialize in woodlands that sell plots, check out www.landowner.or.uk and www.woodlands.co.uk both sell plots.





As well as coppicing, thinning and clearing, you will have responsibility of protecting the trees from deer, squirrels and rabbits. Public rights of way must be maintained, stiles repaired and access and paths signposted.





www.Forestry.gov.uk


You will need to contact your local Forestry Commission adviser.


There are strict rules as to what can and can not be felled and when. Compulsory replanting costs can outstrip harvest value.





www.woodlandtrust.org.uk and www.wildlifetrusts.org. will help you with the information you need BEFORE buying.





******EDITED TO ADD





Personally I don't think individuals should buy nor own woodlands, what you should do is buy a piece of land (brown field, slum clearance site, wasteland) and plant native broad leaf trees on it yourself. In ten years you will have a woodland, a young woodland, but a rapidly growing one that you can pass onto your grandchildren.Can you advice me on buying a patch of woodland please?
Before you do anything, have the soil tested!





I cannot advise you on cost, because I don't know how big a piece of land it is you are looking at, nor do I know what area it is in.





Generating income can depend on a multitude of things also, but since you are interested in protecting/conserving the land, why not learn about the different tree's, their uses etc, and then open it up to the public as a tour?
American here, so I can't help you with the specifics of cost or location, but on the generating income front, look into sustainable use of your woodland. A particularly interesting idea (which originated in England) is the Edible Forest Garden, which applies principles of permaculture to woodland management: http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/





Also, I just turned up this site by typing ';sustainable woodland management'; into Yahoo and it looks like it might be useful for you: http://sustainablewoodlands.co.uk/
I guess you do not have a particular piece of land in mind so the first step is to look around and think about where this land could be, maybe you want somewhere near your home.





Land sales are often a matter for specific agents so you could have a look for web sites regrding these and also auctions.





http://www.uklanddirectory.org.uk/index.鈥?/a>





this site offers land sales.





You may get some ideas of the prices from this.


You could also try contacting agents or advertise in local papers.





Generating income is another matter and this may depend on planning permissions etc.


However you may be able to set up various activities like a nature trail, and charge groups to come along
Try this website:


www.woodlands.co.uk


It lists woodlands for sale region by region etc.





I know people have had problems getting planning permission if they wish to live on their wooded site, so don't buy thinking you can build a traditional house to vastly increase the value... instead, consider an earth-type shelter i.e. underground, grassed roof with light vents... as much less obtrusive visually, planners happier...





Howsabout making charcoal from the dead-wood, or carving small items to paint, sell... maybe picture frames, or some other folk-art / rustic utility stuff...





opening up your site to local schools would be good too...





Very best of luck - I think this is a truly great idea.
cost going up all the time and quire extortionate for small plots.


area, as big as you can afford and at least 7 acres for biodiversity.





another good land agent; http://www.johnclegg.co.uk/





or join a group that do bigger conservation projects, e.g. the woodland trust.


http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/



Do you really want a patch of woodland? Forestry Commission usually sell them off cheap to relieve themselves of the liability risk.
Is this for a coven of witches !!!