Wood meadows are my new jam
Greetings and welcome back to my wildlife forest garden newsletter. There have been a lot of changes in my life recently. We’ve moved from a Ceredigion smallholding with 3 acres of forest garden to an end of terrace house in the heart of a lovely Pembrokeshire village. I’ve started a new part-time job as a Biodiversity Assistant for the Ceredigion Local Nature Partnership at Ceredigion Council. And I have discovered wood meadows.
Wood meadows
Wood meadows are a managed and productive ecosystem, made up of sparsely wooded areas with a regularly mown herb layer.
They are model for how human activity can increase biodiversity, in stark contrast with the profit-focussed monocultures that currently dominate our landscapes.
Neither in any other community of Western Europe, nor anywhere in the tropics, does the number of vascular plant species within a few square meters reach the numbers counted on the Estonian wooded meadows.
Biodiversity of the meadow ecosystems is connected to human use and it declines significantly if this use ceases.
~ When culture supports biodiversity: The case of the wooded meadow
This is from a seminal 2003 paper by Kull, Kukk & Lotman. It’s so good, I’ve attached the PDF to this newsletter. To my mind, wood meadows are analagous to landsape-scale forest gardens.
Linden Hawthorne
I must thank the inspirational writer and naturalist Linden Hawthorne for her pioneering work in her design and contributions to Three Hagges Woodmeadow near York. The site has recently been taken on by the charity Plantlife.
If you would like to find out more about Three Hagges Woodmeadow you can download an article from an Agricology podcast.
Fundraiser for restoration ecology conference
The 14th European Conference on Ecological Restoration is being held in Tartu, Estonia in August 2024. The wood meadows of Estonia are the best preserved and restored probably in the world. Along with conservation agriculture and grassland restoration, they feature heavily at the conference.
My aim is to create a common wood meadow in West Wales, featuring a range of blended services (agroforestry, education, coppicing, tourism, burial ground, orchard etc) that support sustainable livelihoods whilst simultaneously increasing biodiversity.
The conference is an ideal opportunity to research wood meadows first-hand, to see plants in their native habitats, and to be able to discuss ecological restoration techniques.
Please support me if you can. I shall be publishing copious notes and photographs!
The future
The nature and climate emergency are ramping with no signs of abating. For me, wood meadows combine the social aspects of community gardening and agriculture with the approach of forest gardens. I will be exploring how we can create ecologically and economically sustainable practises.
So, still forest gardening but with an emphasis on the drect democracy of community assemblies and community engagement.
Thank you for all your support 🙏✊
Jake