So it is in my opinion we really need to examine this behaviour, and hopefully this article can help you get a better understanding of the value of coppicing and maintaining the structure and services of a forest while having a continuous harvest of varying products, instead of one harvest every 30+ years and clear-felling the lot, only to replant. In my childhood my father cut and distilled eucalyptus oil in a four year coppice rotation - the same as his father and his father did, so you can see how perpetual this system is. In my travels to Morocco, I have seen quite clearly the value of coppicing, where there are eucalyptus trees coppiced about every five years for firewood, simple structures and formwork props for construction, just to name a few uses.Įucalyptus oil that we all know so well comes from a coppice system. Coppiced wood can be used for firewood or charcoal, traditional woven or wattle fencing, for weaving baskets, as livestock food, or even for fence posts.In Australia we really need to get back to our European roots of coppiced forest systems.Īs Darren Doherty states, we push out the stump after we cut the tree, when the eucalypts coppice beautifully.īen Law, author of The Woodland Way, also talks about the various products that come from a coppiced forest in England. If the harvested wood is not needed, it can be left as woodpiles in the forest which are ideal habitats for fungi, moss, lichens, and invertebrates. Wildflowers such as bluebells thrive in coppiced woodlands which in turn increases the number of pollinator species such as bees and butterflies.Ĭoppicing also assists in extending the lifespan of individual trees as it can help to reduce disease and prevent the formation of dead wood. This helps food chains thrive as these other species of plants will be eaten by invertebrates like caterpillars who will then be consumed by birds or other mammals such as shrews or mice. It helps to increase biodiversity, as when trees are coppiced they help to open up the forest canopy which allows more sunlight to filter through down to the ground, increasing the growth of other plants such as flowering bushes and shrubs and grasses. Benefits of Traditional Coppicing to Biodiversity Wildflowers thrive in coppiced woodlands. The coppicing cycle is a lot faster than deforestation and afforestation (cutting down and replanting trees) as the tree is already established with a strong root base, which is why it is able to regrow quickly. Coppiced woodlands are managed carefully and cut between every five and twenty years, for up to a hundred years, the woodland, or “copse”, is usually coppiced on rotation so that a different part of it can be harvested every year. Here are the…Ĭoppicing means that woodlands are not completely cleared and can be managed in a way in which the timber can be used for things such as building or fuel. Solutions to deforestation are crucial to slowing the effects of climate change and sustaining biodiversity and resources. When the correct size is reached, the wood is harvested and the whole cycle can begin again. When a tree is coppiced at the base, new shoots start to grow from the stump, these shoots can then be thinned out so that a desirable number of shoots remain, which can grow to the wanted size. How Does Coppicing Work in Woodland Management? Coppiced trees are cut at the base to encourage new growth.Ĭoppicing works best on deciduous trees (those which shed their leaves in the fall) such as oak, ash, hazelnut, elm, and maple. Evidence of coppicing has been found in Europe which dates back to the stone age ( 4500 BC) and further archaeological findings have found that coppicing was common during the Bronze Age and the Roman and Saxon times in the UK, mainly because a coppiced tree is easier to cut with hand tools than a mature un-coppiced tree. The origin of the word coppice is the French “couper”, or to cut. So it is also faster than replacing felled trees, as the base already has its roots established. New shoots grow and are a sustainable source of wood, as the whole tree does not need to be cut down and it can be coppiced multiple times, without being killed. We’ll show you the benefits of coppicing and how it’s done.Ĭoppicing is an ancient forestry technique that involves cutting trees low, near the base, to encourage growth. Coppicing is a traditional woodland management technique where trees are cut at the base to allow new shoots to grow.

Coppice a tree