British timber, British woodlands

Do you buy FSC wood? We usually do for our business and home because of it's environmental credentials. But now I've found out that we might well be doing more good buying British wood. That's because almost all the woodland in the UK is pretty much sustainably managed (give or take a few cowboys). You can't legally fell more than 5 cubic metres of wood in any calendar quarter without a licence from the Forestry Commission, even if it's on your own land. And they don't usually give a licence with insisting that you restock the area, and keep it restocked for at least 10 years. (Here's a summary of the rules, if you're interested.)

So when you compare that with the environmental cost of shipping timber in from overseas, or the unknowns of non-certified timber, buying British looks like the responsible action.

And it can really help UK conservation. Here in Devon, we've found a really local source of timber - a 55 year old plantation that is being felled to reveal and regenerate the original oak woodland it covers. More about that on our Wheatland Farm blog, but here are a couple of pictures. It's going from this...











to this...














Some interesting snippets:

• Apparently, South Africa has certified all of it's timber as FSC approved


• The UK hasn't done very well with woodland conservation in the past. Thousands of years ago most of Britan would have been forested, but as long as 1,000 years ago coverage had fallen to about 15%. And by 1900 we reached a low point of 5%. Since then things have got a little better, with about 8% of land cover wooded by 2000.


• And here's an alarming thought. By the time you make a wooden floor, about 75% of the wood will have gone to waste...
  

Royal pretender - butterfly larvae that trick ants into treating them like queens

How's this for a way to infiltrate high society? Did you know that caterpillars of the endangered Rebel's Large Blue butterfly (a European, not UK species) get themselves 'adopted' and then treated like royalty by ant colonies?

The butterfly lays her eggs on a gentian plant, but once hatched, the caterpillars use chemical mimicry to trick worker ants into taking them back to their colony. There, they switch strategy, and make distinctive sounds that mimic those of the queen ant. It's this that persuades the workers to look after them - feeding and cleaning them in preference even to ant larvae.

Read more...
Planet Earth Online magazine

Science Now article (free until 6 March)

Read the abstract of the research paper or the press release from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology


An international team from the University of Turin (Italy), the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UK), and the University of Oxford (UK) carried out this research, which was published in the journal Science.

Good news for barn owls in Devon

Barn owls are doing well in Devon, as Laura Joint reported yesterday
on the BBC Devon site:

A 2003 survey found 281 nests and 358 roosts in Devon - an increase of 37% on
the previous count in 1993.

But they're not doing so well in West Devon. But now, the Barn Owl Trust, based in Ashburton, are staging a fight back on behalf of the owls.

The project will provide free advice to landowners and farmers about creating
areas of perfect barn owl habitat.The trust is also putting up over 100 new nest
boxes and is appealing for people who want to get involved.And the charity wants
anyone who has seen a barn owl within the boundary of Westmoor (the area between Plymouth and the A30, West Dartmoor and the Tamar) to get in touch on 01364 653026 or email info@barnowltrust.org.uk

We have barn owls on our Devon farm, and our guests often report seeing them hunting at dusk. My dad, the barn owl man of sussex, gave us a box, and so did local land owner Cyril Cole from Rose Ash - another local enthusiast.


So far the boxes have only been used by tawny owls and stock doves, but maybe this spring...


There's lots more info, including advice for land owners and nest box designs at The Barn Owl Trust's own website.

And remember, Barn Owl's are protected - it's illegal to disturb them in any way.

If you find one dead on the road you can do something to ensure it didn't die in vain. Pick it up and check its legs for a numbered ring. If you find one, report it at this site.

And then take the bird home and put it in the freezer. Yes really, because once frozen you can bag it up and send it to the predatory bird monitoring scheme at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Even if it's fairly decomposed! Smell alone won't put them off. But do try to protect yourself when handling dead animals - picking it up with a plastic bag is a good idea. Then wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

Why would you bother? The predatory bird monitoring scheme analyses the carcasses to see what the birds died of - sometimes pesticides, sometimes deliberate poisoning. Their work was instrumental in getting some of the particularly nasty old fashioned pesticides banned in this country.

You'll get your postage money back, and when the analysis is done, they'll let you know what they find out.

They're interested in other birds of prey too, not just barn owls.

But if you find a barn owl that looks like it has been deliberately killed, contact the police and ask to speak to your county wildlife crime officer.

Here's a link to my dad and some of his barn owl work in Sussex