New Royal Welsh ‘Woods for Wales’ competition
Woodland owners in Wales are being invited to compete for up to £1500 in prize money offered in a new competition run by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society and Forestry Commission Wales.
The ‘Woods for Wales’ competition will seek out projects which demonstrate examples of sustainable diversification and the provision of added value in three separate categories of woodland development and management covering recreational, commercial and social activities.
The competition is open to private woodland owners and farmers and in addition to the traditional commercial businesses surrounding timber production such as sawmilling and processing woodland products from home-grown timber, or providing shelter for livestock, a wide variety of activities have been listed in the three categories.
In the commercial section the competition judges will be looking for the best woodland providing, for example, for holidays and catering, game shoots, off-road trails, facilities for music festivals or theatre that surrounding woodland may enhance, motor sport where woodlands are large enough to accommodate this scale of event, as well as agri-forestry and the development of timber processing plants.
There are up to a quarter of a million hectares of forestry and woodland in Wales and mountain biking, horse riding, pony trekking, orienteering or the simple pleasure of going for a walk in the woods, are among the popular activities listed in the recreation section of the competition and those woodlands providing for these and similar pastimes will be scrutinised by the judges.
In the social section they will focus on woodland developed for educational purposes, and also for health, including where facilities have been provided for less able people.
“Thousands of visitors are now enjoying the forests and woodlands of Wales not least for health-giving exercise and we are working closely with the Welsh Assembly government on the physical benefits of walking, jogging, cycling and other kinds of outdoor exercise,” said Roger Nock, Production Manager (North) of the Forestry Commission Wales, who is Assistant Honorary Director Forestry of the RWAS.
“This section of the competition where activities like these are helping to promote health is important and we hope the judges will find some good illustrations where sustainable woodlands are being managed for health and educational purposes,” he said.
Entries for the competition close on March 28 and an overall winner, selected from the short listed finalist in each section, will be announced at the Royal Welsh Show in July.
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