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Landscape and Forestry

Boost for South Yorkshire Woodfuel

Wrights Farming Register - Landscape image
Forestry Commission woodfuel chief for Yorkshire and the Humber, Rudie Humphrey, with a handful of wood chips destined to be used to generate green energy. Photo: Mark Pinder.

A CASH boost of £100,000 will help local woodland owners in South Yorkshire tap into the growing market for woodfuel.

The Forestry Commission and the South Yorkshire Forest Partnership has won the grant from a European Union fund. The funding is spread over three years and has been won under an EU scheme called Activating private forest owners to increase forest fuel supply (AFO).

The region is one of the most forested in Yorkshire and the Humber, with 11,465 hectares (28,662 acres) of woodland.

Now private woodland owners are being targeted to bring more of their land into management to produce timber, possibly by joining together with other owners to create local supply clusters or co-operatives.

Rudie Humphrey, woodfuel co-ordinator with the Forestry Commission in Yorkshire and the Humber, said:
“The public sector can do only so much in meeting future woodfuel demands and we need private woodland owners to make their mark. But a lot of these woods are fragmented and small-scale so encouraging owners to work in unison makes common sense. There is a major business opportunity here to create jobs and wealth for South Yorkshire. Bringing woodland into management also helps wildlife by diversifying the habitat.”

• The Forestry Commission has also launched two new guides to help woodland owners and potential users of woodfuel appliances branch out. The Yorkshire and Humber Woodfuel Directory 2010 is a 'Yellow Pages' with an eco-slant, listing boiler suppliers and installers,
along with local sources of sustainable timber and firewood.

The other – Biomass Funding Guide for Yorkshire and the Humber – explains what grants are available to help people turn to wood-generated heat and light and for businesses to take advantage of new market opportunities.

• Download free of charge at www.forestry.gov.uk/YorkshireandtheHumber >>

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