ACanadianinCorbyJuly10th2016 After5 longmonthsof anticipation, stress, andplanning, I have finally completedmy first week of the Prince of Wales Forest Leadership Award placement at LockhartGarratt.ThemoststressfulpartleadingtomyflighttoEnglandinearlyJunewasapplyingformyworkVisaandorganizingaccommodationforthedurationofmyplacement.Luckily,Ihadawonderfullyhelpfulcontactfromthecompany,Justin,whoconnectedmewithVicki,themarketingcoordinator.Fortunatelyforme,Vickihasaspareroominherhouseshewaswillingtorentout–sonotonlydoIhaveacomfybedandaroofovermyhead,butalsoaridetoworkandsomeonetoshowtomearound!TheVisaapplicationtoworkintheUKwasrelativelyeasytoapplyfor,althoughthewebsiteisquitedisorganized(inmyopinion)and the various required formswere quite scattered. I applied for Tier 5Mobility YouthVisa,whichallowsme towork in theUK forup to2years, even thoughmyplacement isonlyforthreemonths.Thisalsocovershealthinsurance,andgivesmeaccesstotheNHSforthefulltwoyears,whichwillbebeneficialforfuturetravelling.

Although not my first visit to the UK, it is my first time working abroad, andexperiencing the forestry sector in England. Lockhart Garratt is a forestry consultantagency,workingwithprivate landownerswhowish tomange theirwoodlands (orcreatenewwoodlands)forawidearrayofobjectives,suchastimbersales,increasingbiodiversity,aesthetics,orpheasantshoots.Thecompanywasestablishedin1998,andrecentlyopenedasecondofficeinChippingNorton,Oxfordshire.Iwillbenamelyworkingoutoftheoriginaloffice located in Corby, Northamptonshire. Over the last 18 years, Lockhart Garratt hasbecomemultidisciplinary, focusingonarboriculture, forestryandwoodlandmanagement,ecology, landscapeandgreeninfrastructure,andmineralsandwasterestoration. Iwillbeworkingnamelyintheforestryandwoodlandmanagementbusinessunit(BU),buthopetoexperience a little bit of each BU, particularly ecology, since I specialized in wildlifeconservationandmanagementformyundergraduatedegreefromLakeheadUniversityinThunderBay,Ontario. HavingjustcompletedmyfirstweekatLockhartGarratt,I’veonlyjustskimmedthesurfaceofwhat this companydoes to improve thenatural environment inEngland.Thusfar,IhavebeenworkingonresearchingtreepestsanddiseasestocreateasummarysheetfortheBU.ThereareanumberofintroducedpestsanddiseasethattheforestrysectorinCanadaalsoexperiences, suchasDutchelmdiseaseandchestnutblight.Contrary to this,therearepestsanddiseasesthathaveinternationalparallels,suchastheemeraldashborerinCanadaandChalaradiebackofashintheUK.Iwon’tgointotoomuchdetailaboutpestsand disease here, as I plan on writing a article for the Institute of Chartered Forestersregarding pests and disease in the UKwith a focus on ash dieback, and touching on theemeraldashborerfrombackhome(whichwillalsobepostedhere!)

AnexampleofChalaradiebackinayoungashtree(Fraxinusspp.).Youcanseelesionsformingonthemainstemofthetree.Atthebaseofthetreeyoucanfindblackenedstems

coveredinwhitefruitingbodiesoftheChalarafungus.Ihavealsobeenworkingonassistingtheseniorforestryconsultant,Cheryl(whohas

been amazing in showing me the ropes of the Forestry BU so far, and making sureeverythingisgoingwell!),onaclientcasewhereLockhartGarratthastakenoveranEstatepreviouslymanagedbyanotheragency.Assuch,weareworkingonpullingall thepiecestogethertogetafullunderstandingofwhathasalreadybeendoneontheEstate,andwhatthenextstepsshouldbe.Personally,Ihavebeendoingalotof‘detective’workcomparingthemanagementplanoftheEstatetoseveralmapswehaveoutliningthevariouswoodlandcompartments (Basically, the woodlands within the Estate are divided into variouscompartments based on permanent features such as a woodland edge, road, orwatercourse,andthenthesecompartmentscanbefurtherdividedintosub-compartmentsbasedonsignificantdifferenceswithinthewoodlandsuchastheboundarybetweenconiferdominated and broadleaf dominated stands, or significant age difference between twostands.) Division of the land into compartments and sub-compartments allows forcompartment-specificmanagementprescriptions,suchasclearfellinginonearea,thinningin another, coppice felling in another, and so on.When applying for licences to performthinningorfellingwithinwoodlands,thespecificcompartmentsneedtobeappliedforandapproved.Assuch,mydetectiveworkhasbeenidentifyingwhichwoodlandcompartments

arepresentonmaps,buthavenotbeenincludedwithinthemanagementplan.IwilldelvefurtherintothemanagementplanprocessinalaterblogwhenIhavehadmoreexperiencedealingwiththematLockhartGarratt.

AsampleofmydetectiveworkhighlightingwoodlandcompartmentsthatwerenotmentionedinthewoodlandmanagementplancreatedfortheEstate.

Ihavehadafewopportunitiesinweek1toattendsitevisitsofclients’Estates.TheseEstatesrangeinsizefromjustafewtoseveraltensofhectares–quitesmallcomparedtotheforestryscalesathome!MyfirstsitevisitwastoexamineanEstatebeingmanagedforpheasantshoots,wherecoppicinghastakenplace.Coppicingiswheretreesorshrubsarecutbacktostimulateregrowth,therebycreatingadenseshrublayerafterseveralcyclesofcoppicing. At this Estate, we were examining the fencing installed around the coppiceregrowthareastoexcludedeerfromthearea,andinspectsaplingsandcoppicestools forforagingdamage.IwillgointothedeerissuehereintheUKinafurtherpost,aswellasthegrey squirrel issue, and some details on pheasant shoots (which are very common, andmanyEstatesaremanaged for thispurpose). Ihavealsobeenonasite inspectionwithaForestry Commission officer, where we explored an Estate where willow tit (Poecilemontanusi) habitat is to be managed for. Willow tit is a key species for woodlandmanagement,astheirpopulationhasbeendecliningsignificantlyinthepast40years,alongwithsubstantialhabitatcontractions.

Asmallplantationofshrubstocreatehabitatsuitableforpheasantsshoots.Althoughthesespeciesarenotdesirablefromaenvironmentalperspective(ornamentalspecies,really),theymakeexcellentgroundcoverageforpheasantstohidewithinandbeflushedduringtheshoot. ForthedurationofmyplacementatLockhartGarratt,Iintendonpostingtwotypesofarticlesonthisblog–thefirsttypewillbesimilartotoday’s;moreofaweeklyupdateofthings Ihavebeenup toatworkandoutsideofwork– thesecondwillbearticlesonUKspecificforestryandecologytopics,suchasthosementionedabove. You can also follow me on Twitter (#CanadianInCorby) for posts about myexperienceintheUKat@SarahFrances293.