Local Woods for Local Good

Aim

Help us restore this unique woodland and provide materials for community projects!

In 2002 the Whitelands Project started as a woodland restoration project. Jonathan West bought the woodland with the aim of reviving the native ecosystem through sustainable forestry. After Jonathan's death the work was taken on by his children, and twenty years since its inception, the project is now run for community benefit. 

As a CIC we encourage people to make biodiversity their business by getting hands on with sustainable natural resources. Sadly, we are facing a number of challenges, including a devastating tree disease. 

The Ecology

The restoration of Whitelands Wood means removing non-native conifer species which were planted across the Site of Special Scientific Interest in the 1950s. Plantation conifers shade out all other plants, meaning nothing else can grow. We want to gradually replace those trees with resilient native species, but the main one we rely on for this has been badly impacted by an invasive tree disease called Chalara ash dieback. This means an entire generation of trees has died, and our sustainable forestry model is in trouble.

Our Resources

The Whitelands Project CIC provides a venue and materials for local groups and sole traders. We support rural small businesses on site and work with local educational organisations, from bushcraft clubs to universities. Removing the conifer from our woodland provides materials that can be used in all sorts of projects, and restocking with native broadleaf trees should ensure more resources for many years to come. Ash timber is the perfect material for many different crafts, and it was once a culturally important species. Sadly, now that so many of our ash trees are infected with Chalara ash dieback, we need to fell far more than we planned so that the woodland can be safe and accessible again.

The Disease

Chalara ash dieback kills over 70% of the trees it infects. Co-director Fritha West explains: “Growing up at Whitelands I saw ash as our go-to wood. It was one of the first trees to reclaim the hillside once the conifers were taken out, and it provided firewood, tool handles, furniture, even cutlery and sometimes food. They made the best swing trees and bird nests, their branches were always full of life. There's a reason the that the great ash, Yggdrasill, held the universe together in Norse mythology - it's a truly special tree.

“Since the onset of Chalara ash dieback, the kids who play in the woods today don't see these trees the same way we did. Most of them will only experience ash trees as skeletal, fragmented silhouettes, dangers to be avoided in high winds, or as straggly little saplings. Chalara ash dieback means millions of ash trees across the country have been felled - the majority of these cut up for firewood or chipped for biomass. Future generations won't have access to this once incredible sustainable resource because the beautiful, reliable and wonderful tree, once so common it was known as the 'Hampshire weed', is disappearing from our landscapes.

“I'm fed up with seeing this valuable material go for nothing but firewood. It's time to get creative. With your help, we can ensure the timber from these trees is preserved for any number of community projects - whether that's for use by students from Portsmouth School of Architecture, kids clubs with Elsa, or local craft enthusiasts. Let's make something long lasting, and honour the memory of these trees so we can share them with future generations.”

The Future

Our local landscape may be losing its ash trees but we don't see why local people should lose out. This funding will help us fell the trees we need to, process them, and provide for future projects, fuelling creativity and connection as we do so. In achieve this we need to be able to hire forestry contractors, pay for sawmilling, store the wood and most importantly let people know what we have to offer! 

You can help by donating to this page, and/or sharing the link with people you know. We want to provide for our community and help them reconnect with the woods. Will you help us?

This project successfully funded on 3rd September 2023