There’s no wellbeing without nature’s wellbeing. That’s the maxim of Geoff Bockett, a man who has dedicated his life to caring for the natural world.

Born and brought up in Nairobi, Kenya, he spent half of his professional life working in different parts of Africa, and is now the newly appointed director of Living Woods, a not-for-profit social enterprise based in Hexham and operating across the North of England. 

Living Woods helps to create new woodlands and orchards. It works with land managers and communities to help them put “the right tree, in the right place, for the right reason” and create diverse and productive habitats for people and wildlife. In addition, Living Woods cares for existing woodlands, collaborating with managers and custodians to care sustainably for their woods and orchards. And its Rekindle project produces local firewood, charcoal and coppice products like hurdles, besoms, and bows. Meanwhile, at the very start of the process, volunteer growers from its Seeds2Trees initiative take seeds to produce saplings which are then transferred to a community nursery. 

Bockett’s role is to attract and engage more people to the project, from tree lovers to those who manage woodland, and it’s an urgent task in his eyes. “The statistics for England are woeful. We have one of the lowest covers of forest in Europe, just 13 per cent, compared with up to 70 per cent in Scandinavian countries. We have denuded our country of forestry cover and biodiversity, and I feel passionate about the need to reverse this.” 

Planting trees and increasing the forest and woodland cover is known to be one of the most effective ways to suck up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and slow down global warming, as well as providing a multitude of ecosystem services such as helping to stabilise soils and reduce flood risks. Now, Living Woods is organising a one-day conference to highlight what it is doing, and to celebrate the efforts and achievements of the people who have already connected together to create and care for woodlands. 

Vital work

Bockett has a pivotal role at the conference, but also throughout the year as he runs a series of WoodNet events every couple of months – social networking in the real world for people who care about trees, plant them or want to know more about them. The meetings are held sometimes in village halls but more often in fields and woods and forests. The conference, Creating, Caring and Connecting, is the first attempt to bring people together on a much bigger scale, and has attracted some important figures as guest speakers. 

One is Lee Schofield, a leading conservationist and nature writer and author of Wild Fell: Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Hill Farm, his account of a decade working for the RSPB at Haweswater in the Lake District National Park, where he oversaw pioneering conservation work including new woodland planting. 

He is now working on the largest Landscape Recovery Project in England, aiming to create a 60 square mile corridor of widlife-rich land extending from Penrith to Kendal, in partnership with more than 30 landowners and farmers. 

The conference will also feature Rachel Penn and Sian Atkinson from the Woodland Trust who will talk about the ancient woodlands of North East England – their biodiversity and cultural significance, and the importance of creating new native woodland.  

The conference will be staged at the Hexham and Northern Mart on November 28 during National Tree Week. It is open to all who appreciate native woodlands, including the volunteer workers who spend their time on Living Woods’ projects, and the volunteer growers who take part in its Seeds2Trees initiative. 

“We want to highlight all the wonderful work our volunteers do, and thank them, and our partners and funders who help to make it all happen, and all the wonderful work our  community tree growers do,” says Lara Young from Living Woods, who is also the Seeds2Trees project manager. 

“And we want to encourage others to join us in this vital work. We are always pleased to welcome new people and you can commit to as much or as little time as you wish.” She says that the organisation was thrilled that Lee Schofield had accepted the invitation to address the conference. “Trees and woodland have been at the heart of much of his work over the past years. He is an inspiration to all who care about the natural world.” 

WoodNet

The conference is an extension of the WoodNet scheme, whose events are also open to all, from volunteers who work in the woodlands to those who find solace or mental wellbeing from spending time among trees. “It’s all about engaging people in what we do,” says Bockett. A recent event featured visits to two new woodlands in the Tyne Valley which have been created by private individuals who are now sharing their experience, lessons and pitfalls. One is a former GP and the other a former forester, both keen to get more woodland created in the area, and approaching it in slightly different ways.  

“We are educators, and we are raising awareness about woodlands, as well as enabling people who manage and maintain them.”

Bockett continues: “But there’s no wellbeing without nature’s wellbeing.”

He’s been passionate about trees since his childhood, with parents who introduced him to the natural world from an early age. “I was fascinated especially by the bizarre-looking baobab tree [known as The Tree of Life] which supports hundreds of different species which are dependent on it. Including human beings.” 

One of his first jobs was at a forest conservation project in North West Cameroon at the Kilum-Ijim Forest, one of the last remaining areas of viable mountain forest in West Africa. “The idea there was to work closely with local people and empower them to manage the forest in a sustainable way, by giving back to them the powers of management and sanction that had been taken away from them by the forest department during colonial times. And also introducing them to forestry techniques which could make their farming system more sustainable, rather than cutting down more and more forest to increase land available for cultivation.” 

It’s a theme which has run through Bockett’s professional life. Now, working with partner organisations, he recognises the importance of working with farmers in an effective and collegiate way, not to demonise or polarise those who are afraid of breaking with tradition. This is an area very familiar to Schofield in the Lake District, where hill farmers are learning that populating a mountainside with many sheep is not an ideal way to restore balance in the landscape. 

Bockett points to the inspirational leadership of farmer and writer James Rebanks who had a very public conversion away from traditional hill farming. “It’s an enormous task,” says Bockett. “England has been so badly hit by urbanisation, and we have to work together, to create new woodlands, enhancing the natural beauty and biodiversity of this country and make a positive impact on the environment as well.” 

By Eileen Jones

All photos courtesy of Living Woods, including main image of volunteers taken in Horsley Woods

 

Living Woods Conference 2024: Creating, Caring and Connecting is a one-day event taking place on November 28, 2024 and starting at 9.30am at Hexham and Northern Mart, Tyne Green, Hexham NE46 3SG. Tickets are £15 (including VAT) including buffet lunch. For more information, click here.