Join us online for our Annual General Meeting at the Green Wood Centre, the home of the Small Woods Association.
 

9:45   Welcome | Chris Duncan, Secretary

10:00 Small Woods Annual General Meeting | John Blessington, Chair 10:45 Comfort break, tea, and coffee

11.00  Keynote speaker | Professor Katie Field – The Wood Wide Web

Dr Katie J. Field is an Associate Professor in Plant-Soil Processes and a BBSRC Translational Research Fellow in the Centre for Plant Sciences at the University of Leeds. Katie’s background is in plant and fungal physiology, using field ecology coupled with physiology to untangle how carbon and nutrients are exchanged between crops and their fungi partners and how this may be affected by future changes in climate and management.

11.45 Speaker | Hilary Allison, Forestry Commissioner: From a small wood to the big picture

Hilary is a Small Woods member, as well as a member of the Forestry Commission’s national council, having previously been a senior manager at the Woodland Trust. Hilary will talk to us about how having an intimate connection with a small woodland helps to inform her contributions to the big policy questions she must tackle as a Forestry Commissioner..

12:15 Speaker | Ian Baker: Small Woods in focus

Small Woods Association is 35 years old this year and Ian will lead a session looking back at our origins and forward to how our role might develop, given the growing importance of trees and woodlands. Ian will point to a growing role for SWA in woodland biodiversity, innovation, and practical management and how the growth of Small Woods from the bottom up can help to protect our woodlands and ensure they play a stronger role in localities for their communities and environments.

12:45 | Esmond Harris Award for Small Woodland Innovation

Esmond will speak about the award and the intentions for it in the long term, followed by revealing the 2023 winner.