The 160 hectare tree planting scheme at Broughton Sanctuary on the Broughton Hall Estate, supported and funded by the White Rose Forest, has won the prestigious forestry trophy at the 2022 Great Yorkshire Show.
The John Boddy Award celebrates and rewards excellence in forestry creation, design and management in Yorkshire, with a different theme each year and this year focuses on woodland creation.
Planted during the 2021 season, the tree planting at Broughton Sanctuary marks the beginning of an ambitious nature recovery programme that will transform a third of this 1200-hectare estate. The new woodland will increase diversity, provide a high-quality retreat for visitors, and reduce flood risk further down the Aire catchment, as far as Leeds City Centre.
The Award is organised and judged by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Royal Forestry Society and Forestry Commission and this year attracted the highest number of entries in recent years, demonstrating the huge variety of different types of planting schemes being developed in the region, from large-scale productive woodland, to reclaimed pits and golf courses, to smaller scale amenity woodlands.
Funding and support for planning and planting the new woodland was provided by the White Rose Forest, the community forest for North and West Yorkshire. The White Rose Forest funded the planting via the England’s Community Forests Trees for Climate programme, part of the Government’s multi-million pound Nature for Climate fund. Trees for Climate can provide some of the most competitive woodland creation funding available for woodland creation projects within any community forest area in England.
The entries were judged by Tim Tolliss of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Ben Scotting of the Royal Forestry Society and Sam Cooper of the Forestry Commission, who were impressed by the scale, vision, and professionalism of the Broughton Sanctuary scheme in a location that has traditionally not seen large-scale planting schemes coming forward.
They said the trees were healthy and looked to be establishing well, with provision for recolonisation, and the planting was sympathetic to the existing landscape, and they noted the commitment by the estate to partnership working and engagement with a range of other agencies and individuals.
Three other schemes were named as finalists and highly commended by judges. These were Howgill Side woodland in Beamsley; Howe End in Danby; and Silver Hill in Aske.
Sam Cooper, Partnership and Expertise Manager at Forestry Commission and one of the judges said: ‘’These exemplary schemes demonstrate the huge variety of benefits that new woodlands can bring, from carbon sequestration, to improving biodiversity, to helping to reduce flooding. They also highlight what can be achieved when landowners with commitment and vision work with forestry sector professionals and agencies to help make that vision a reality.
‘’I congratulate the team at Broughton, as well as our other worthy applicants, and look forward to seeing these schemes grow well into the future. ‘’
Find out more about our woodland creation project at Broughton Sanctuary: https://whiteroseforest.org/broughton-sanctuary-home-to-englands-biggest-planting-scheme-this-season/