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Pilot
Projects:
Naturepark UK knows that it would be unrealistic to
expect to raise sufficient funds in a short time
span to allow for the purchase of a target acreage
of 50,000 acres or more to be realised. Nevertheless
it might be possible to raise sufficient funds to
acquire small pieces of land or a
farm and apply the desired principles as pilot
studies.
Precedence is set by the
Wildlife Trusts with
their
farm in Worcestershire. Also
Natural England advertises their efforts under
the slogan “Natural England is here
to conserve and enhance the natural environment, for
its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of
people and the economic prosperity that it brings”.
If
it materialises that a maintenance or even an
increase in natural
species diversity is possible whilst using the
land profitably then the pilot projects would lend
the overall vision
credibility. Apart from farming,
feasibility studies for the commercial growths
of new forestry crops, for example
paulownia trees or
willow biomass studies, could also be explored
experimentally.
Naturepark UK is currently in the process of
developing a business plan for an
agroforestry scheme, based on a traditional
method, in order to apply for grants.
The scheme adapts traditional methods to modern
ways of working and has the potential to be
groundbreaking for the 21st century.
In
a different direction one could combine a
willow project with
flax
linen production and a
woodland burial site, manufacturing linen clad
wicker coffins whilst simultaneously creating a
woodland.
An
email exchange with the forestry research department
of the
University of Freiburg, Germany, confirmed that
in terms of energy yield per surface area the
extraction of
turpentine from a
temperate coniferous forest is
just as good as for
palm oil from a
plantation. |
