The Sylva Foundation is an

environmental organisation An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environment ...

focusing on trees and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

established in 2006, and registered as a charity in England and Wales in 2009 and with the

Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government with responsibility for the regulation of charities in Scotland. OSCR is the independent regulator and registrar for more than 24,000 Scottish ch ...

in 2010. The organisation was co-founded by

Sir Martin Wood Sir Martin Francis Wood, CBE, FRS, HonFREng (19 April 1927 – 23 November 2021) was a British engineer and entrepreneur. He co-founded Oxford Instruments, one of the first spin-out companies from the University of Oxford and still one of the ...

and Dr

Gabriel Hemery Dr Gabriel Hemery (born 13 December 1968) is an English forest scientist ( silvologist) and author. He co-founded the Sylva Foundation with Sir Martin Wood, a tree and forestry charity established in 2009. Career He began his career at the Nort ...

. Its office is at the Sylva Wood Centre in

Long Wittenham Long Wittenham is a village and small civil parish about north of Didcot, and southeast of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it from Berkshire to Oxfordshire, and from the former Wallingford Rur ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Sylva Foundation is a national charity supporting

sustainable forest management Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the management of forests according to the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable forest management has to keep the balance between three main pillars: ecological, economic and socio-cultural. ...

. Sylva Foundation's main programmes are Forestry, Education, Science, and Wood.Sylva Foundation
In 2013, 20 hectares (12 acres) of land near

was gifted to the charity. In 2016 the charity moved its main office to the site and established the Sylva Wood Centre, which provides a hub for small businesses and craftspeople who design, innovate or make in wood. In 2017 the Sylva Foundation created the Wittenhams Community Orchard and Future Forest on its land.

Science

Sylva runs the forestry think-tank, Forestry Horizons, which operates at national and international levels seeking to advance and support

forest science Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

and forest policy. Its main activity is the lead partner in delivering a national survey concerning British

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s; the British Woodlands Survey series.

Education

Sylva Foundation runs a number of education projects, including the OneOak project launched in 2009 following the life story of one oak tree.

Forestry

Sylva Foundation supports sustainable forest management across Britain via the myForest service.myForest.org.uk
/ref> Woodland owners and managers can map and measure their woodlands using web-based tools. Sylva Foundation has close links with many organisations as it seeks to work as a catalyst for innovation and as bridge between forestry-related organisations.

Wood

The charity opened the Sylva Wood Centre as a hub for small businesses and craftspeople who design, innovate or make in

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

. The centre provides dedicated space, equipment and an inspiring community of woodworking professionals. Alongside business units for established businesses it provides facilities to support business incubation.

References

External links

Sylva Foundation main website

OneOak education project

myForest project
{{coord, 51.641687, N, 1.205639, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SU566934), display=title Forest conservation organizations 2008 establishments in England Organizations established in 2008 Organisations based in Oxfordshire Forestry in the United Kingdom Sustainable forest management Charities based in England