School children help plant new woodland in Norfolk

Dec. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- The woodland, known as Pott Row, to the east of King's Lynn is owned by local company Sibelco UK. This project complements the extensive tree planting undertaken by Sibelco on its nearby land-holdings where former sand quarries are restored for a wide range of after uses, including nature conservation, heathland, lakes and leisure facilities and public access.

Jamie Bell, Anglia Forest Manager for UPM Tilhill, said: “We’re delighted that Holly Meadows was involved in this initiative facilitated by Sibelco UK.  It was a fantastic opportunity for us to help the children and the local community learn about forest management, harvesting and regeneration.  We hope that the children enjoyed helping us and will take pleasure in watching the trees grow.

“Changing from conifer to broadleaf will make the woodland look quite different but we think the new composition will enhance the landscape and mean that it will remain a valuable asset to the local environment as well as being a productive and valuable broadleaf woodland.”

Head Teacher of Holly Meadows School Rachael Williams added: “Pott Row is very near to the school so we were delighted to get involved with this project and learn more about the important forestry work taking place right on our doorstep. We might even have some budding forestry experts among the pupils or inspire others to think about a career in forestry.”

UPM Tilhill professionally manages Pott Row for the site owner Sibelco UK as part of their sustainable woodland management plan.  During the Summer of 2012 around 28 hectares of mature Corsican pine, covering almost half of the site, were harvested leaving a large area in need of regeneration. The cleared area is now being replanted with broadleaves to help create a new, high-density broadleaf crop to meet a number of objectives including producing biofuel, capturing carbon, creating a habitat for wildlife and improving the site’s ecological benefits as well as producing timber and wood fuel.

As well as planting nearly 300 trees the children learnt about the remaining woodland, how to identify different species of trees and learn about forestry management from UPM Tilhill experts.

Sibelco UK and its predecessor companies have extracted sand and restored sites in the local area for over 150 years. The company employs 400 people directly at 15 locations throughout England and specialises in processing and supplying a wide range of specialist industrial sands and clays to many UK and worldwide key manufacturing sectors, including glass manufacture, foundries, ceramics, paper and amenity/leisure industries.

UPM Tilhill, established more than 60 years ago, is a national company operating from a network of offices throughout the UK.  UPM Tilhill is now the UK’s largest timber harvesting and forest management company. The company provides a full range of consultancy and contracting services to the forest owner and forestry investor.  Further information is available on the company’s website at www.upm-tilhill.com

ENDS

Notes to editors:  Click here for directions to Pott Row Wood.

For further press information contact Suzi Christie PR Consultant for UPM Tilhill on 01435 830031 or e-mail suzi@blueberry-pr.co.uk

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 24,000 people and it has production plants in 17 countries. UPM's annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com

Sibelco operates sites throughout the UK, selecting, extracting and processing materials from reserves of silica sand, ball clay, kaolin and dolomite. They provide advanced industrial minerals to customers throughout the world across a broad range of industries including ceramics, glass, foundry, sports and leisure and paper.
With locations in Cheshire, South Yorkshire, Surrey, Norfolk, Bedfordshire, North Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Devon, the UK team is made up of over 400 people, working together to meet the individual and constantly changing needs of their customers. Conscious of the potential environmental and social impact of mineral extraction, Sibelco is leading the industry with a range of initiatives such as the Carbon Reduction Campaign, the Biodiversity Action Plan and the Helping Hand Programme.