TreeStations

Introduction Many woodlands are poorly managed, in large part due to the falling price for timber which makes it uneconomic to thin woodlands. Small logs coming from young woodlands are the least valuable of all and are particularly hard to sell. Providing a market for this large amount of low value produce helps woodland owners and managers, people working and living in the countryside, and benefits wildlife conservation and biodiversity. There are many trees in urban areas too, along roads, in parks and gardens and in woodlands within towns. TreeStations can help make best use of the timber that results from managing trees and woodlands in rural and urban areas. What is a TreeStation? A TreeStation is a site where local woodland and tree managers and owners can bring their woody waste to, rather than sending it to landfill. The station will then convert the wood into useful projects.

TreeStations will have environmental, social and economic benefits, in particular they are:
• based around commercially viable use of local timber
• are a focal point, acting as a hub for users of forest products
• centres of local excellence in sustainable forest management
• committed to maximising environmental benefits from woodland, for example by concentrating their attention on restoring management to ancient and semi-natural woods
• designed for a regional or local scale of operation to minimise the environmental impact of transporting timber and wood products, and to increase benefits to people working and living locally.

TreeStations are a holistic approach encompassing both management of trees and woodlands and the use made of their products. Each TreeStation has one or two core activities providing stable outlets for woodland products. Other wood-using activities can grow around this, making best use of the available wood resources, generating employment and adding as much value as possible.

BioRegional and TreeStations So far BioRegional has set up one TreeStation as part of a partnership with the London Borough of Croydon and City suburban Tree Surgeons. Since 1996 we have worked with Croydon Council to: • improve the management of the borough’s trees and woodlands • reduce the amount of wood entering the waste stream • establish a fully operational TreeStation in Croydon. City Suburban joined the TreeStation project in 2004 as we moved towards woodchip fuel production.

The woodchip store in Croydon

A TreeStation is especially valuable where many owners each have responsibility for a large number of small woods and trees. TreeStations act as a catalyst for sustainable forest management through the development of new wood-using industries which match the available woodland products.
Our work at the Croydon TreeStation is setting an example by:
•improving the value of the environment for local people by bringing woodland into management
• demonstrating good management of trees in Croydon through certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme
• involving local people in woodland management and ecological monitoring
• diverting up to 10,000 tonnes a year of waste wood from landfill
• developing new markets for timber in products such as charcoal, woodchip for fuel and sawn timber craftsmen and furniture makers.

Development of woodland management at the Croydon TreeStation.

Despite its urban setting Croydon has several woodland areas which are highly valued as a place for quiet enjoyment by local people. Until the partnership between BioRegional and Croydon Council the area’s woodlands only had limited practical management. Many areas that previously managed as coppice were overgrown and the variety of light and shade, young growth and older trees was lost.

Active management has been restarted in four woods. Rides have been restored, coppicing reintroduced and unwanted invasive species, such as sycamore, are being progressively removed. Work started by BioRegional with project funding has resulted in a new forestry management business employing 3 people. The cost of the work has been surprisingly modest, as full advantage has been taken of grants available from the Forestry Commission, some timber has been sold for pulpwood or firewood, or made into charcoal. Other coppice products have been marketed locally.

The result has been a rapid return of spring flowers such as primroses and bluebells in the coppiced woodland and the return of other, less obvious plants and animals. The biodiversity benefits of bringing woodlands back into management are clear and the young shoots of the regenerating coppice have increased variety and interest for people walking in the woods.

Trees don’t just grow in woodlands. In an urban setting like Croydon trees along streets and in parks and gardens are vitally important. The council was the first local authority worldwide to gain FSC certification for the management of all the woodlands and trees for which it is responsible. This was independent endorsement of the high standard of systematic management through regular inspection and maintenance of Croydon’s ‘urban forest’.

The TreeStation in Croydon has been established primarily to use the wood produced by arboriculture within the borough. Wood is diverted away from the waste stream and used to make a variety of products. Charcoal was made for 4 years up until 2000 and the small proportion of high quality logs were sawn for timber using the TreeStation’s mobile sawmill. When BedZED was built charcoal making ceased and we developed the woodchip production unit. City Suburban Tree Surgeons have been running the site as a commercial venture since March 2006. Arboricultural waste arising from management of the Council’s own trees and from tree surgeons working elsewhere are accepted at the site.

The first market for woodchip was for 1000t/yr at BedZED for the combined heat and power plant (CHP). This coincided with growth in interest in woodchip as a heating fuel so we have increased the capacity at the Croydon TreeStation to 8000t/yr. Availability of fuel nearby has led to strong local interest in woodchip heating so despite the failure of the BedZED CHP so far future prospects for the TreeStation are good. Five local building developments have opted for biomass now that they are confident of a secure supply - a residential development, two care homes, a school and a district heating scheme. Interest is also growing among other London authorities. Discussions have started with Haringey, Hounslow and Sutton about setting up similar TreeStations.

Now the project faces the challenge of finding an effective and cheap technique for drying the woodchip because, although the Slough Heat and Power station can handle undried waste, smaller boilers need the woodchip to be drier. So BioRegional and City Suburban are exploring the use of fabric covers which would keep rain out of the chip pile while still letting water vapour produced by the heat generated in the chip pile escape.

In June 2006 the project won an Ashden Award for sustainable energy of £15,000. The prize money will be used to help establish new woodchip processing sites for smaller scale biomass boilers, this time incorporating a drying technique into the processing system to improve the woodchip quality.

“Andrew Tolfts and the team at BioRegional have long been innovators who spawn new concepts and take them mainstream. The Tree Station idea is a great one, already proving itself and desperately needed,” says Stewart Boyle, Business Development Director, Wood Energy Ltd.

“The development of the Croydon TreeStation has demonstrated how a reliable supply chain can be established in the urban environment. The replication of this work in further TreeStations will play a major role in facilitating the development of wood fuel heating systems throughout the capital and beyond… in 20-30 years I would expect similar projects to be a standard feature in all parts of the country” says Matthew Woodcock, Operations Manager for the Forestry Commission.

Turning tree waste into fuel using a large Jenz chipper

Rural TreeStations

TreeStations are not just for urban areas. Similar benefits can be had by aggregating timber from small woodlands in rural areas. South East England is especially suitable for a TreeStation with its wealth of small woodlands with a multiplicity of owners. Marketing produce from individual small woods is hard but together they can are a significant resource.

For example, it is difficult to plan and carry out woodland maintenance work such as thinning of young tree crops, and it is hard to sell small loads of low value timber. Even the Forestry Commission who give grants for woodland management find it difficult having contact with owners of just 30% of privately owned woodland, implying that many are receiving little if any attention. A TreeStation will stimulate increased management of neglected woodland by developing a market for produce from them and providing a base for wood-using businesses. The result is a more attractive landscape with higher environmental and biodiversity values.

BioRegional plan to establish at least one rural TreeStation. This will show how bringing together woodland management, processing and the use of woodland products on a local and regional scale can create a viable business where there was none before.

Each Treestation will be based around a central activity such as a sawmill, charcoal production, or woodchip for renewable energy. By drawing in material from many, mainly small woods the TreeStations will be able to select material suitable for sawn timber or other high value uses. It is envisaged that a cluster of wood-using businesses and providers of services such as woodland planning will develop around the TreeStation, much as it has at Croydon

For more information about TreeStations contact Amy Hammond at BioRegional
Tel: 020 8404 4219 e-mail: Amy Hammond

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Last updated 14th January 2008