Dronley Community Woodland is an area popular with walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders, with over 20,000 visits annually. It is a multi-purpose woodland where biodiversity, timber production and recreation are equal priorities. The Community offer local employment, school visits, volunteering opportunities and courses, and they manage the wood using ecological, low-impact woodland management strategies, such as Continuous Cover Forestry, to protect the soil, forest microclimate, flora, fauna and trees. Continuous Cover Forestry avoids clear-felling and regenerates woodlands by natural regeneration and underplanting.

Dronley Wood has been damaged substantially during the recent storms. Through this funded project, the Community aims to develop a part of the woodland edge into a diverse, tapered, resilient and mixed woodland edge by implementing careful, low thinning, followed by stacking up brash to create wind and sun shelter. The Group will underplant parts of the woodland edge with site-adapted broadleaved tree species to increase biodiversity and resilience. The project will be undertaken by a team of dedicated volunteers and the local school.

Woodland Manager Dirk Sporleder said, “The funding support allows us to transform parts of our existing woodland edge into a species-rich, structurally diverse and ecologically valuable woodland edge. Underplanting the woodland edge will enhance the biodiversity at Dronley Wood. Mixed woodland edges are rare woodland habitats with a fantastic potential for woodland education and outdoor learning opportunities. We are looking forward to starting to work on our project for the benefit of future generations.”