91热爆

Still in the New Forest, Matt catches up with Ben Ditchburn from the Forestry Commission to find out all about the UK wide survey that Ben and his team have been working hard on for the last 5 years. The National Forest Inventory is the first of its kind, with every inch of forest and woodland being meticulously mapped to provide a modern `Domesday Book鈥� of the nation鈥檚 tree cover.聽

Charlotte Smith is investigating claims that the UK is cutting down more trees than it is planting and looking at the problems this could cause both environmentally and for the timber industry. She also visits the site of the biggest proposed new forest in the UK for 20 years, but why aren鈥檛 they planting yet?聽

Sue Scullard is one of the most highly regarded wood engravers in the country and John Craven is at her home in Kent learning about her inspiration, her craft and maybe even having a go at it himself. Sue鈥檚 pieces are beautifully crafted over hundreds of hours, often on a boxwood block no larger than a postcard.聽

When it comes to forestry, bigger means better, and Ellie Harrison is up in Inverness to see some of the biggest machines working in the 21st century forestry industry. Ellie is at Culbin forest where giant trees are felled and stripped in one swift movement.聽 Circular saws the size of cars split huge tree trunks like matchsticks and futuristic cranes move the timber around the woodland with ease.聽

Matt Baker is in the New Forest monitoring one of the most elusive birds of prey found in the South East. He meets Forestry Commission ranger Andy Page, to find out about Goshawks in the New Forest and how their numbers have been doing so well in the area. Andy has a very novel way of keeping an eye on these birds, which Matt discovers later in the programme.

Sean Fletcher is up in Stirlingshire to enjoy the more simple things in life. In a forest, just fifteen minutes from the centre of Glasgow sits an unusual group of ramshackle buildings. Some brightly coloured, some in need of a little TLC, but all of them made of wood.聽 This is Carbeth, a decades old community of 鈥渉utters鈥� close to the city but a world away in time.聽聽

Spring lambs are something most Country File viewers will be very familiar with but what about spring goats! Goats milk is just as versatile as cow's milk and has health benefits for those of us who are lactose intolerant. There's also a growing market for goat's meat.聽This week Adam's investigating both!

John Craven is in Kent meeting some magnificent horses and their handler Frankie Weald. John isn鈥檛 just here to take in the landscape though; he has come to this ancient woodland to help out.聽 It鈥檚 a sight straight from the pages of history; a magnificent Ardennes horse, with traditional harness pulling logs out of an ancient coppiced clearing. John is just in time to have a go with not just one, but three of these wonderful horses.聽

Ellie鈥檚 in her element up in the forest around Inverness, when she gets the chance to get up close to red squirrels. She meets PhD student Louise de Raad and Forestry Commission鈥檚 Kenny Kortland. Louise is undertaking the first ever scientific study of its kind鈥� looking for evidence of the impacts of forestry on red squirrel populations. It鈥檚 still early days for the study, but it will hopefully pave the way for essential forestry work and wildlife conservation to move forwards together.聽

Matt鈥檚 high up in the canopy seeing the work of Andy Page, Forestry Commission ranger, who鈥檚 climbed a rather tall tree, all in the name of wildlife monitoring. He is set to place a tiny camera into an inactive Goshawk nest, with the hope that this will be inhabited by mother and chicks in the months to come. Now is the time to act, before any eggs have been laid, and this little camera could provide a fantastic source of data for scientific research, as well as amazing footage.聽