Involving the Children in Sustainable Woodland Management

Part of Forest School is raising awareness of our natural environment. Learners can be involved in helping to care for the natural woodland environment by looking after the trees and nature in their forest school setting. As children start to develop knowledge and love of flora and fauna, the forest school leader can help teach them about maintaining and protecting their woodland. This can be done by looking after habitats, replacing large logs that have been overturned, keeping piles of leaf litter for small animals to live in, creating log piles,

A sustainable forest is a forest that is carefully managed so that as trees are felled they are replaced with seedlings that eventually grow into mature trees. This is a carefully and skilfully managed system. The forest is a working environment, producing wood products such as wood pulp for the paper / card industry and wood based materials for furniture manufacture and the construction industry. Great care is taken to ensure the safety of wildlife and to preserve the natural environment.

Activities linked to Woodland Management – Science, Citizenship and Design Technology

• "   Making bird and bat boxes
• "   Make woodpiles
• "   Use secateurs and loppers to coppice any hazel or willow in the winter
• "   Bug hotels - creating mini eco systems
• "   Log piles
• "   Bird areas
• "   Learn about which trees are good at coppicing – to regrow and produce side shoots
• "   Litter picking
• "   Planting trees and bulbs
• "   Thinning and planting trees,
• "   Mini-bug hotels Child led ideas elicited through discussion about looking after the woodland.
  How can we do this?