18-19 May 2015
Woodfuel from Agroforestry Conference in UK
The Organic Research Centre, a partner in the AGFORWARD project, hosted the annual meeting of the UK Farm Woodland Forum. The theme was “Woodfuel from Agroforestry”. The two day meeting was attended by about 60 people and included visits to agroforestry demonstrations including hedgerow management for bioenergy and short rotation willow and hazel coppice in grassland. The visit, on 19 May 2015, was to a mature silvoarable system managed by a local farmer, Bill Acworth. The alleys have now been converted to grass and some of the lime trees are being pollarded for fuelwood. The atmosphere amongst the widely-spaced trees was idyllic.
Sixteen platform presentations were also made, which can be found on the following site.
Various presentations were made by staff and organisations from AGFORWARD. Professor Jim McAdam (from AFBI) gave a brief presentation on agroforestry regulations in Northern Ireland, and colleague Rory Lunny gave an update on recent research on “Alley coppice: an alternative land use system”.Jo Smith (Organic Research Centre) presented an update on agroforestry at the centre.
Stephen Briggs, who has been working with the European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF), reported on a European project called “Agroforesterie Formation en Europe” (AGROFE) which focuses on agroforestry education. Gerry Lawson, who is Vice Chairman of EURAF, presented some results from recent AGFORWARD work with Andrea Pisanelli (CNR) on agroforestry policy across the EU. Paul Burgess and Matt Upson (Cranfield University), working with Michael den Herder at the European Forest Institute, presented the results from the initial quantification of agroforestry from the AGFORWARD project. Links to some of these presentations can be found below.
Burgess, P.J., den Herder, M., Upson, M. (2015). Quantifying Agroforestry in Europe with a Focus on the UK. Presentation made at the Farm Woodland Forum Annual Meeting Organic Research Centre, Hamstead Marshall, UK. 18 May 2015.
Organic Research Centre (2015). Agroforestry at the Organic Research Centre. Presentation made at the Farm Woodland Forum Annual Meeting Organic Research Centre, Hamstead Marshall, UK. 18 May 2015.
Briggs, S. (2015). Agroforestry Education in Europe. Alley coppice: an alternative land use system. Presentation made at the Farm Woodland Forum Annual Meeting Organic Research Centre, Hamstead Marshall, UK. 18 May 2015.
Lunny, R., McAdam, J., Douglas, G. (2015). Alley coppice: an alternative land use system. Presentation made at the Farm Woodland Forum Annual Meeting Organic Research Centre, Hamstead Marshall, UK. 18 May 2015.
Lawson, G., Pisanelli, A. (2015). Agroforestry policies in the EU Are we learning any lessons? Presentation made at the Farm Woodland Forum Annual Meeting Organic Research Centre, Hamstead Marshall, UK. 18 May 2015.