Andrew Heald
@andyheald.bsky.social
2K followers 1K following 940 posts
Forester & tree farmer 🌲🌳👨🏽‍🌾🐂🥜🥭🪵 Inclusive landscape scale solutions Regenerative bioeconomy Sustainable cities Works with the amazing Inovaland team Lives in Edinburgh
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andyheald.bsky.social
In best John Peel voice … and tonight we’ve got a session from Bristol based prog rock band “Virtual Symposium” playing tracks from their latest concept album “Drones in Ecology” …
Reposted by Andrew Heald
forestresearchuk.bsky.social
🌳 How do new woodlands shape wellbeing and sense of place?

Research led by Dr Beth Brockett at Forest Research found communities see local tree planting as good for both nature and people.

🔍 Learn more: ow.ly/kLaK50XaSGB

#WoodlandCreation | #SocialScience
New woodland offers unique social benefits to local communities - Forest Research
Forest Research explored views and benefits of tree planting and woodland creation.
ow.ly
Reposted by Andrew Heald
iufro.bsky.social
❗Students of tropical forestry: interested in going for an MSc?

🍀There is a fully funded DAAD EPOS #scholarship to study #TropicalForestry at TU Dresden/Germany, during the academic intake 2026-28!

Apply by 30 October!

tropicalforestry.wordpress.com/2025/09/01/c...

#ForestScience #ForestResearch
andyheald.bsky.social
That would make sense, and gets the trees down fast before anyone has time to object
andyheald.bsky.social
"Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" #NoKings
andyheald.bsky.social
Good blog - the reality of tree planting and the importance of tree tubes.

“The guards kept a ray of light above them, and led to the best survival rates for any parcel on the site.”
philsturgeon.com
As summers continue to get unseasonably warm and dry, reforestation proves to be a bigger challenge. Our flagship woodland creation site Goytre Hill had a rough start, with approximately 54% survival rate year one. Here’s how we’ll make year two go better. www.protect.earth/articles/goy...
Goytre Wood update: A Welsh woodland in progress — Protect Earth
Over the past few years, Protect Earth has been working on creating a woodland in Powys, Wales. Overlooking the Radnorshire hills sits the once overgrazed slopes of Goytre Hill , near Knighton in Mid...
www.protect.earth
andyheald.bsky.social
Useful webinar for the many carbon experts that struggle to make the connections between how we manage our land and how we decarbonise our economy …
iufro.bsky.social
📢Join the 5th webinar in a global webinar series on sustainable forest-based bioeconomy approaches: Building the future: Innovative wood solutions for carbon neutrality and sustainable bioeconomy.

🗓️ 20 October 2025
⏰ 15.00–16.30 UTC+2

Register here: 🔗 ow.ly/qjZc50X9yVW

@fao.org
andyheald.bsky.social
Also like a Spruce stump without much of an obvious hinge … and a busy dual carriageway quite close …

but maybe the stump is much smaller than it looks and the road much further away
a cartoon character says cowboy 's gotta do what a cowboy 's gotta do while holding a gun
ALT: a cartoon character says cowboy 's gotta do what a cowboy 's gotta do while holding a gun
media.tenor.com
andyheald.bsky.social
For clarity this is a Sitka Spruce timber plantation.

You could imagine that if this was an arable crop providing a home to a threatened species, that the article would be focussed around the local farmer and the careful balance of food vs nature …

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Yorkshire Dales endangered red squirrel colony is thriving - experts
UK Squirrel Accord confirms 16 red squirrels have been identified in a North Yorkshire colony.
www.bbc.co.uk
andyheald.bsky.social
Thanks - I assumed it might have been that same woodland.

It is important that we clearly communicate about the biodiversity in commercial forestry plantations, and also that they are a much needed timber crop.
Managed well, they can both be a source of timber and a home to Red Squirrels.
andyheald.bsky.social
Many UK ancient woodlands have been in continuous management for centuries.
A lack of woodland management is sometimes seen as a reason for declining biodiversity, particularly in woodlands that have a history of coppice management.
andyheald.bsky.social
I visited the W.E.B. Du Bois museum in Accra, Ghana back in August.
There was a lot of resonances between his experiences and the current situation.
stephenwest.bsky.social
How W. E. B. Du Bois responded to government policing of "anti-American" sentiment during the 1910s:

"I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, 'We are seeking to have the Constitution of the United States thoroughly and completely enforced.' ”
Federal agents invaded even the offices of The Crisis and the National Association for the advancement of colored people and asked searching questions: " just what, after all, were our objects and activities?” I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, “We are seeking to have the constitution of the United states thoroughly and completely enforced.” It took some ingenuity, even for Southerners, to make treason out of that.
andyheald.bsky.social
The mighty River Tyne looking quite romantic @lner.co.uk
A slightly blurry photo of the River Tyne and bridges, at sunset.
andyheald.bsky.social
On the train to London for a few days, I love the views on the East Coast mainline …
Reposted by Andrew Heald
woodknowledgewales.bsky.social
Our post-event report for WoodBUILD 2025 is now live.

This year’s conference brought together more than 250 delegates from across the built environment, forestry and policy sectors to explore how Wales can build with timber at scale.

Download it from: woodknowledge.wales/woodbuild-20...
andyheald.bsky.social
Good news - it would be great if there was mention of the organisation managing the “tree plantation” with perhaps a quote from the local forester, an explanation of why it was planted, and perhaps what species the trees are and/or confirmation whether they are 🌲or 🌳
andyheald.bsky.social
This is a difficult but worthwhile listen about stress in the job and mental health. 🌳🌲

Well done to @royalforestrysoc.bsky.social for promoting, and to @kilmaha.bsky.social Nick Adams , and Gillian from FISA for speaking so openly @forestryjournal.bsky.social

open.spotify.com/episode/4oI4...
Mental Health in Forestry: Breaking the Silence
open.spotify.com
Reposted by Andrew Heald
fairlieman.bsky.social
Here I am, back in my favourite place for the penultimate guided walk of the year. Just an uneducated forester according to some, enjoying this nature-depleted landscape where every tree you see has been planted by others equally uneducated.
andyheald.bsky.social
Perhaps worth hearing directly from the people who did the planning, the planting and the beating up.

Given repeated failure to reach national 🌲🌳 planting targets, I’d suggest that we need wholesale review of landuse regulation & support mechanisms.

www.scottishwoodlands.co.uk/about-us/new...
Scottish Woodlands’ pride in The Lost Forest
www.scottishwoodlands.co.uk
Reposted by Andrew Heald
ajstein.bsky.social
(2/4) … using just 3% of the land that is now used for #biofuel for #solarpanels would produce the same amount of #energy, enough to power 1/3 of the world’s #cars if they were EVs. #Biofuels therefore emit 16% more CO₂ than the #fossilfuel they replace… www.transportenvironment.org/articles/cro...
Burning food for land-hungry biofuels is fuelling the climate crisis
For the first time ever, Cerulogy, on behalf of T&E, looks at the global biofuels landscape today and what a growing market will look like in 2030.
www.transportenvironment.org
Reposted by Andrew Heald
foresterbob.bsky.social
Western larch forests in fall colors at Sherman Pass, Washington, October 2007. I'm using a portion of this photo as my banner image. My travels have often taken me to this site, and occasionally the fall colors are just right.
#forestry #photography #landscape #washington
Western larch (tamarack) trees display yellow fall colors on three layers of mountainsides. The sun shines on the foreground trees and the distant mountain, while the middle mountain, rising to the right of the image, is in shade. Green trees include species such as Douglas-fir, grand fir, subalpine fir, and lodgepole pine.
Reposted by Andrew Heald
dendrochronicle.bsky.social
From Forest to Heritage III
Conference announcement. The best conference for those of us who work at the intersection of woods, timber and heritage
iufro.bsky.social
📢 Abstract submission is open for the conference:

🌲From Forest to Heritage III
🗓️19-22 May 2026; 📍Klagenfurt, Austria

🚨 Submission deadline: 31 January 2026

➡️ www.from-forest-to-heritage.dendro.at/call-for-pro...

#ForestScience #ForestResearch #ForestHistory #dendrochronology #ForestEducation