West Yorkshire Working Woodlands

The Working Woodlands project aims to achieve the sustainable multi-purpose management of woodlands in the White Rose Forest (WRF) area, with a primary objective being the production of woodfuel.  This is initially focused on woodlands in local authority ownership where the potential for these woodlands to produce woodfuel as a renewable form of energy, both into regional co-firing markets and local heat markets could be realised.

Training and up-skilling of the sub-regional forest based business workforce will form a core economic output of the project.  Training in business management, woodfuel/biomass and technical activities will be given. The focus of this project is an integrated series of programmes to enable the sustainable management of woodlands in West Yorkshire, by means of ensuring access to added value markets for the products (both timber and non-timber) of these woodlands. This will provide economic and environmental benefits to the owners (principally local authorities and other private woodland owners), contractors, processors and wider rural communities of West Yorkshire.

The project will realise the sustainable production of timber for renewable energy production for the region's co-firing markets and more local heat markets as they emerge.  If local biomass heat markets are to develop, a local supply of biomass is essential and this can be partly realised by the productive capability of woodlands within West Yorkshire.

Contact member of staff: Ben Scotting