Meeting 2. Wednesday the 10th June - Ringwood Forest and Queens Copse

Theme: ‘Managing Forests for Fire Resilience’

Invited guest: Rob Gazzard, BSc, MSc, MICFor, MRICS

There are no notes available from this meeting, see pre-meeting information below.

The cycle of hot, dry weather experienced in our recent springs and summers has made some of our woodlands and forests vulnerable to wildfires. The structure and vegetation of Ringwood Forest makes it particularly susceptible to damage by wildfires, so this visit will look at what measures can be taken to reduce the risk. Rob Gazzard (Adviser, Technical Guidance, Forest Services, Forestry Commission England), who has extensive knowledge of wildfires and risk management, will be our guest speaker and will explain the measures that can be taken to reduce the risk and the potential damage caused by a wildfire outbreak.

Queens Copse suffered from the storms experienced in the winter of 2014 resulting in areas of mature Douglas fir suffering from windblow. Not all of the trees were felled during this event and our visit will look at the future treatment of the affected stands to see if increased resilience can be built into decisions on stand management.

References

Pre-meeting notes:
Building wildfire resilience into forest management planning