Woodland Winner at Great Yorkshire Show

A North Yorkshire woodland scheme has won the prestigious forestry trophy at the Great Yorkshire Show.

The John Boddy Award celebrates and rewards excellence in forestry creation, design and management in Yorkshire, with a different theme each year and this year focuses on woodland creation.

The 2022 title has been won by Broughton Sanctuary near Skipton which featured 160 hectares of new native woodland planted on the Broughton estate during the 2020-21 planting season.

The Award is organised and judged by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Royal Forestry Society and Forestry Commission and this year attracted the highest number of entries in recent years, demonstrating the huge variety of different types of planting schemes being developed in the region, from large-scale productive woodland, to reclaimed pits and golf courses, to smaller scale amenity woodlands.

The Broughton Sanctuary scheme is part of an ambitious nature recovery programme to transform a third of the 1,200 hectare estate, with the new woodlands increasing diversity, providing a high-quality retreat for visitors, and reducing flood risk further down the Aire catchment, as far as Leeds City Centre.

Funding and support were provided by the White Rose Forest via the England’s Community Forests Trees for Climate programme, part of the Government’s Nature for Climate fund.

The entries were judged by Tim Tolliss of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Ben Scotting of the Royal Forestry Society and Sam Cooper of the Forestry Commission, who were impressed by the scale, vision, and professionalism of the Broughton Sanctuary scheme in a location that has traditionally not seen large-scale planting schemes coming forward.

They said the trees were healthy and looked to be establishing well, with provision for recolonisation, and the planting was sympathetic to the existing landscape, and they noted the commitment by the estate to partnership working and engagement with a range of other agencies and individuals.

Three other schemes were named as finalists and highly commended by judges. These were Howgill Side woodland in Beamsley; Howe End in Danby; and Silver Hill in Aske.

Sam Cooper, Partnership and Expertise Manager at Forestry Commission and one of the judges, said: “These exemplary schemes demonstrate the huge variety of benefits that new woodlands can bring, from carbon sequestration, to improving biodiversity, to helping to reduce flooding. They also highlight what can be achieved when landowners with commitment and vision work with forestry sector professionals and agencies to help make that vision a reality.”

“I congratulate the team at Broughton, as well as our other worthy applicants, and look forward to seeing these schemes grow well into the future.”

The Great Yorkshire Show has become a four-day event after a raft of changes were implemented at the 2021 show due to Covid 19 regulations.

Tickets for the show have now sold out. Tickets will not be available on the gate. The opening times are 8am to 6pm on all four days. To see what is happening on which day, go to: https://greatyorkshireshow.co.uk/whats-on/

EDITOR’S NOTES

• The Great Yorkshire Show is England’s premier agricultural event, organised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS), a registered charity supporting rural Yorkshire.
• YAS supports and promotes the farming industry through health care, business, education and scientific research.
• The Society is supported by its family of businesses including Fodder, Yorkshire Event Centre, Pavilions of Harrogate and the Harrogate Caravan Park as well as events Great Yorkshire Show and Springtime Live.
• Businesses and events held at the Great Yorkshire Showground in 2019 contributed £73.7 million to the economy.

CONTACT

Jo Francisco
PR Manager
Direct Line: 01423 546215 | Mobile: 07954 007414
Email: jof@yas.co.uk

Sara Lamper Press officer
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Email: sara@saralamper.co.uk