Clocaenog Forest Resource Plan

Results updated 9 Aug 2022

There were 8 responses to the consultation.

A number of responses expressed what was liked and disliked about the plans:

5 responses were generally positive

2 responses were generally negative

1 response was mixed in its views

 

The following Comments and Suggestions were raised, in order to help improve the plans:

Don't plant close to water courses - leave a boundary which allows access by machinery to maintain water courses.

Don't re-plant over water courses, preventing access for maintenance.

Don't plant close to field boundaries - leave a strip which maintains stockproof fences and walls without regular damage by your trees.

Don't re-plant close to field boundaries - another storm, more miles of damaged fences.  Each time NRW has to repair the boundary fences, only for NRW's trees to fall across them again a week later.

Don't plant along or phone or powerlines - again damage by your trees results in the destruction of essential utilities for rural dwellers and farms.

Don't re-plant along power and phone lines - yet again our electricity has been off for 3 days following a storm, but the only reason it is off, is because NRW's trees fall across the power lines. 

Do Not Re-Plant over domestic and farm spring catchment areas. Planting over the catchment areas prevents access, changes the nature of the supply of water to the springs and harvesting with machinery is devastating to the catchment areas.

Current NRW water guidelines and restocking policy allow for minimum riparian buffers for water quality purposes. These allow for better riparian management and prevent pollution. Areas around springs at the start of water courses and upland bog areas, where identified, are also often left clear of new conifer planting.

Existing first rotation crops were often planted from fence to fence and along riparian areas and are the main cause of some of the problems highted by the public consultation. Gradually, as these crops are felled or managed over time, any new restocking will address these issues. Riparian buffers, edge management including successional woodland are all now part of the long-term solution to these historical forest edge problems.

 

Comments on Forest access

Increasing public access through rights of way or permissive access routes would be a valuable service for many who value the countryside.

This is the perfect opportunity to bring about some developments/improvements that make the forest accessible and safely useable for multiple recreational purposes. A number of proposals for horse riders in the forest have been suggested including improved parking facilities for horse trailers, horse friendly barriers, clearly marked riding routes, and a fairly priced permit system.

Please make provision for horse riders - safe parking, horse friendly gates, circular routes and routes which link with other equestrian routes. Horse riders are often overlooked in planning but are a growing sector in tourism. Something similar to the Rainbow Trails at Dyfnant would be fantastic.

Although there are no formal facilities provided for horse riders in Clocaenog, there are several sites that can and do accommodate horsebox users. Open access allows horse riders to use forest road network which connect with a network of bridleways outside the forest. NRW welcomes and supports the idea for a dedicated site similar to the ‘Rainbow Trails’ at Dyfnant.

 

Comments on Forest Management

The current volume from thinnings is low for such a large woodland coverage. 9723.47 m3. The FRP needs to deliver SMNR and with such low productivity, the aims will be missed. The forest and land formation, is well suited to modern harvesting, and the road network was excellent in 1985 to deliver well thinned woodlands. There is a need to increase the use of Forest Stand Dynamics in the plan. The increase of species mixtures is urgently required.

There is a need to increase tinning volume, enrich thinned stands with appropriate tree species, and increase broadleaved tree coverage within the stands.

The new plan shows that, two thirds of the forest will be managed under Low Impact Silvicultural Systems, the majority of which will be thinned in the next 10 years resulting in approximately 12,500m3 of timber volume per year.

 

RSPB have welcome commitments to extend riparian woodland, restore Priority Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) and undertake management to benefit Red Squirrel.

However, they believe the priorities NRW have listed do not adequately reflect the biodiversity value of Clocaenog Forest and/or the actions required to protect, restore and maintain it.

In particular RSPB raised concerns around:

Management of open space for Black Grouse within and outside the forest

Forest management effecting predator pressure on Black Grouse and Curlew

Riparian management for Willow Tit populations

A failure to reference schedule 1 species such as Nightjar and Goshawk

A direct reply was made to RSPB in response to the concerns and issues raised. The main concerns raised around bird populations, although not specifically highlighted in the consultation documentation, have been addressed in The Habitat Management Plan associated with the Clocaenog Windfarm. Management including grazing, direct cutting and predator control around specific habitats for bird populations has been planned for the next 20 years.

In addition, further information was provided around peat surveys and restoration of open bog areas which inform the Forest Resource Plan, as well as coupe planning procedures which include specialist surveys and provisions which are required by law around schedule 1 birds.