Course SR-01 | Tree Marker Training
Early-stage transformation of Sitka spruce stands to Continuous Cover Forestry (Level 1)
Following a successful pilot in September 2018, we are now delivering a 2-day Tree Marker Training course. From 2019, we are working in close collaboration with Pro Silva Ireland to deliver this course for foresters, woodland owners and forestry students in Ireland. This course focuses on early-stage transformation of conifer plantations to continuous cover forestry (CCF). It is designed to provide an introduction to the theory of CCF and the practical steps involved in starting the transformation of a planted stand.
The Tree Marker Traning course comprises two indoor sessions and two outdoor sessions. The forest has a specially-prepared training plot where all the trees are numbered and assessed in terms of a range of qualitative and quantitative attributes. This forms the basis of hands-on training exercises designed to enhance skills in the development and implementation of tree marking prescriptions. Four training exercises are included in the practical sessions, allowing participants to compare three approaches: low, crown and graduated density thinning. Individual feedback is provided from each exercise.
In 2024, a revised version of the Tree Marker Training course was introduced in collaboration with Cumbria Woodlands. This is a 3-day course that includes additional information about site selection, soils, forest dynamics and inventory. An additional field exercise is included in this course. Biodiversity and conservation values are an integral part of the course, which is located in a productive conifer woodland that is a designated red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) reserve.
Tree Marker Training (Course 01) serves as a foundation for developing skill and confidence in tree marking and the initiation of stand transformation to CCF. In collaboration with colleagues in the CCF community, we are also devising more advanced courses focused on mixed-species stands, habitat/conservation management and later-stage transformations. The aim is to provide a progression route for those interested in extending their skills in the silviculture of CCF.
Latest Courses
Schedule of Courses
The next available Cumbria Tree Marker Training Course will take place at Whinfell Forest (Lowther Estate), near Penrith, Cumbria, 18-20 March 2025. The next available Irish Tree Marker Training Courses will take place at Foxcovert Wood, Kilteel, County Kildare in Spring 2025. These will take place in productive conifer plantations. New for 2025 will be our first oak silviculture course, featuring the first-stage intervention in a plantation of oak (Quercus robur).
Dates and locations for the Tree Marker Training courses that have been delivered are as follows:
- Course SR-01-18 – Kilteel Forest | OAK SILVICULTURE | JUNE 2025 [TBC] | REGISTRATION OPENS SOON (with Pro Silva Ireland)
- Course SR-01-17 – Kilteel Forest | 9-10 April 2025 | REGISTRATION OPEN (with Pro Silva Ireland)
- Course SR-01-16 – Whinfell Forest | 18-20 March 2025 | REGISTRATION OPEN (with Cumbria Woodlands)
- Course SR-01-15 – Kilteel Forest | 28 February-1 March 2025 | FULL (with Pro Silva Ireland and University College Dublin)
- Course SR-01-14 – Kilteel Forest | 23-24 September 2024 | Completed (with Pro Silva Ireland)
- Course SR-01-13 – Whinfell Forest | 10-12 August 2024 | Completed (with Cumbria Woodlands)
- Course SR-01-12 – Whinfell Forest | 3-5 August 2024 | Completed (with Cumbria Woodlands)
- Course SR-01-11 – Whinfell Forest | 27-29 August 2024 | Completed (with Cumbria Woodlands)
- Course SR-01-10 – Kilteel Forest | 20-21 January 2023 | Completed (with Pro Silva Ireland and University College Dublin)
- Course SR-01-09 – Kilteel Forest | 18-19 October 2022 | Completed (with Pro Silva Ireland)
- Course SR-01-08 – Kilteel Forest | 16-17 September 2020 | Completed (with Pro Silva Ireland)
- Course SR-01-07 – Kilteel Forest | 11-12 September 2019 | Completed ( with Pro Silva Ireland)
- Course SR-01-06 – Kilteel Forest | 4-5 September 2019 | Completed (with Pro Silva Ireland)
- Course SR-01-05 – Kilteel Forest | 4-5 July 2019 | Completed (with Pro Silva Ireland/Teagasc Forestry)
- Course SR-01-04 – Kilteel Forest | 27-28 March 2019 | Completed (with Pro Silva Ireland)
- Course SR-01-03 – Kilteel Forest | 20-21 March 2019 | Completed (with Pro Silva Ireland)
- Course SR-01-02 – Ystwyth Forest | November 2018 | Completed (with Natural Resources Wales)
- Course SR-01-01 – Ystwyth Forest | September 2018 | Completed (with Natural Resources Wales)
Further Information
- Pro Silva Ireland [opens in new window]
- Cumbria Woodlands [opens in new window]
- Penrith and District Red Squirrel Group [opens in new window]
- Download course notice [example only]: here [pdf opens in new window]
- Email contact: Ted Wilson on ted.wilson@silviculture.org.uk
