Pondhead Conservation Trust

Pondhead Conservation Trust manages Pondhead Enclosure in Lyndhurst under licence from Forestry England. Run entirely by volunteers, the Trust restores the hazel coppice and ancient track network to improve biodiversity and enhance people’s enjoyment of the woodland, which is the size of 125 football pitches.

The Trust received £4,500 to buy a new charcoal kiln.

Trustee and volunteer coordinator Derek Tippetts said:

Our aim is to manage the woodland in an entirely sustainable way, using traditional methods. This woodland is steeped in history having once been at the heart of a royal deer park in the middle of the Forest. Since 2014, our volunteers have used old maps to restore the historic track network which was mostly overgrown, and they’ve have also helped to restore the largest remaining area of hazel coppice in the Forest. Coppicing is the oldest form of woodland management. It extends the lifecycle of the tree and is beneficial to wildlife by providing a variety of habitats for them. The timber that we cut is used to make charcoal in an environmentally-friendly kiln which we then sell to the public to fund our work. The new kiln will enable us to continue to be entirely self-funded and sustainable. We’re thrilled to have received this funding so our work can continue, keeping traditional methods alive and making a difference for people and wildlife in the New Forest.