The Woodland Grant Scheme is the package of incentives used to encourage the sustainable management of our existing woods and forests, and to promote a steady expansion of forest cover to increase the benefits that forests can provide - the twin aims of UK forestry policy. Since 1991 this package has included provision for open ground retained within plantations, with establishment grants available at the time of planting, and management grants available after ten years.
The dissertation focuses on such open ground, in a selection of ten case studies in Central Region. The aim is to compare policy with practice, by looking at open ground in terms of biodiversity, with the dual objectives of evaluating the status of that ground and its likely development under current management regimes, and analysing the effectiveness of the Woodland Grant Scheme in delivering the wider environmental and social objectives now expected from it.
The study
concentrates on status, management and trends evident within each case,
with reference to conservation management objectives highlighted by the
applicant. It then turns to other objectives given by the applicant, analysing
these with reference to statutory consultees and the voluntary sector.
The finding are summarised and compared with the underlying policy intention
for sustainable management.