Coed Gwent / Wentwood
United Kingdom
Wentwood is the largest area of ancient woodland in Wales, and its location close to the city of Newport means it is an important community woodland that is enjoyed for recreation, as well as being a haven for wildlife and a sustainably managed source of timber.
There has been a long history of conifer planting in Wentwood dating back to the 1800’s and the challenge now is to restore Wentwood to a more natural state, gradually removing the conifers and converting it back to native broadleaves. This type of restoration work is a good example of sustainable forest conservation.
This is a collaborative project involving the two main landowners, Natural Resources Wales (Government sponsored body) and the Woodland Trust (charity) and the local community and other stakeholders. The aim is to manage Wentwood to meet multi-purpose objectives, the primary ones being native woodland restoration, biodiversity conservation, landscape enhancement, recreational access and timber production. The work at Wentwood will comply with the requirements of the UK Forestry Standard, the reference standard for sustainable forest management in the UK.
The full restoration of Wentwood will take over a hundred years. This project will focus on the next 10 years or so and laying the foundations to support the long-term vision. Work will be grouped under two main themes: silvicultural management to achieve best practice restoration; and community engagement and well-being.
