Forestry England is spending around £14.5 million to upgrade its tree
nursery near Delamere Forest, Cheshire, including building a brand-new seed
extractory.
This will produce seeds for millions of high-quality, UK grown, resilient
trees in the decades ahead.
The new facility, which is due to open in spring 2025, will be the largest
in the UK, testing and processing up to four tonnes of tree seeds each year.
It will replace Forestry England’s current seed extractory at Alice Holt
Forest in Surrey which was built in 1964. Most of the funding for the upgrades
is being made available from the Defra Nature for Climate Fund with Forestry
England also contributing.
Image: ELLIS WILLIAMS ARCHITECTS
The project will boost Forestry England’s resilience in supplying suitable
genetic material for woodland creation and regeneration for the rest of this
century. In particular, the development will allow Forestry England to process
more seed, and from a greater variety of tree species located in 13 specially
planted orchards and 39 seed stands spread across the nation’s forests. Douglas
fir, western red cedar and Norway spruce will be amongst the focus species
because they are expected to grow well and become more prominent as sources of
high-quality timber in England’s future climate conditions.
As well as processing seeds and growing trees for the nation’s forests,
Forestry England also supplies other forestry organisations. In 2025, depending
on the seed crops, they expect to supply around 450 kg of conifer seeds to the
private sector as well as around 7.5 million trees for planting in the nation’s
forests. Building a secure supply of high-quality tree seed from diverse
species over the years ahead will significantly improve availability for UK
nurseries and reduce the amount of seed imported from overseas. This will
benefit the UK forestry sector as a whole and plays a major part in boosting
diversity in timber producing tree species.
The new seed extractory building will be equipped with the best available
processing machinery alongside expanded areas for cold and dry seed storage
that will enable several tonnes of seeds to be stored in the best conditions
before germination and planting.
As well as building the new seed extractory, Forestry England is creating a
new miniplug growing facility at the nursery, which will more than double the
capacity of the ‘standing out area’. This is the protected area where tree
seedlings continue to grow after they leave the glasshouse and become
acclimatised to outdoor conditions. This will complement the glasshouse which
Forestry England opened in 2018 as its first major project to build resilience
against changing weather patterns. This computer-controlled
environment uses a combination of fans, shade screens and roof ventilation
to regulate the temperature, humidity and light levels for the growing trees.
Cell-grown trees can be planted all year round and so help in extending the
planting season in the nation’s forests. Together, these tree nursery
investments support Forestry England’s work growing, planting and caring for
sustainable, wildlife-rich, productive forests across the country.
Lead contractor Willmott Dixon has begun construction on the Cheshire site
and recently completed the facility’s timber frame which covers almost 2,000m2.
Adopting best practice construction principles, the facility has been
sustainably designed to achieve excellent levels of environmental performance
and will be net zero carbon in operation.
Horticultural engineering company, Cambridge HOK who designed and built the
nursery’s glasshouse are building the new miniplug growing system. This will
include a production line and irrigation system within the existing glasshouse
operation and a new building for equipment, packing and dispatching trees ready
to be planted. The specialist equipment and machinery are being provided by
Swedish company, BCC.
Imam Sayyed, Forestry England Head of Plant and Seed Supply, said; “This
investment marks an exciting next phase in developing our forest nursery and
seed processing operations. It’s vital we that we continue to grow millions of
resilient trees which will be well suited to the climate we expect in the
decades ahead and these new facilities will help us meet that challenge
head-on.
“The amount of tree seeds available to collect can dramatically fluctuate
from year to year with peak years producing as much as four tonnes of tree
seeds to store ready for processing and germinating. The new facility will give
us the flexibility and storage we need to respond to each season’s supply of
seeds.
“We’re delighted to be working with Willmott Dixon and Cambridge HOK on
these projects who share our commitment to building sustainably. Forestry
England is a leading tree seed supplier to the public and private sector and
this investment builds our capacity to deliver high quality service in the
decades ahead.”
Michael Poole-Sutherland, north west director at Willmott Dixon, said: “We
are delighted to be working again with Forestry England in Cheshire and
creating a truly sustainable seed processing and nursery facility. Just as
with the Delamere Forest visitor centre we completed in 2020, our experts are
prioritising sustainable materials and construction methods. The building will
be net zero carbon in operation and built using cross laminated timber (CLT)
frame, as a sustainable alternative to steel, concrete and masonry. It will
also feature solar PV panels, triple glazing, sustainable drainage solution and
benefit from our extensive EnergySynergy performance monitoring process to
reduce costs.
“We share Forestry England’s passion for creating employment opportunities
and skills in this community. We will create apprenticeships and engage local
students through our bespoke Green Skills Academy, combining
curriculum-enhancing practical, construction-based STEM and sustainability
focussed lessons. Our team will be also leading and supporting local
community projects, focussing on protecting nature and improving mental
and physical wellbeing.”
Jason Tether, Project Manager for CambridgeHOK, said: “We’re delighted to
work with Forestry England on this innovative project. We have designed and are
installing a specialist conveyor system which will allow the heavy containers
of growing trees to be moved seamlessly between different zones during the growing
cycle.
“Having worked with Forestry England on the glasshouse growing system a few
years ago, we’re pleased to create the best solution for this important
expansion to their container and benching system and be part of increasing the
capacity of their growing operation.”
