Conifers of Canada 1: Introduction to Tom's Travels

Tom Wood, Area Ranger on Dartmoor, has been awarded this year's National Trust Ranger Travel Bursary which has facilitated a trip to Canada to learn more about his favourite subject - trees. He has written a series of five blogs about his trip and how it relates to his knowledge of, and work at, Fingle Woods.Well here I am, after months of preparation, lots of booking things, dozens of e-mails back and forth and not an insignificant amount of time spent on Google. Much of the work we do in the woodlands of the Teign Valley, and Fingle Woods in particular is about removing conifers for the benefit of broadleaved trees, to create a woodland with nature much more at its heart than timber production. This is entirely appropriate for much of the woods in the Teign Valley, but it does mean that ultimately our woodlands become less and less economically productive. But what’s the alternative? Leave the conifers? Maybe in some woodlands yes. What I’m interested in is how you might make a conifer woodland in Britain much better for wildlife, in effect to at least partially have your cake and eat it too.And where to come to see conifers at their best and most diverse? The home of some of the most prolific conifers planted in the UK of course… Canada.So as I said at the beginning, here I am, writing from Maple Ridge near Vancouver, having just been trekking through the forests of Golden Ears Provincial Park (Google it!). I have arranged to meet tree people from both the academic, public and the private sectors within British Columbia over the next three weeks to really learn as much as I can in such a short time. I'll keep you posted with this series of blogs as I go.Words and photos from Tom Wood