“It seems to grow quite well down here”: Private managers' fine-scale topographical understandings of forests and the woodland management that emerges

Scale is a crucial factor influencing how woodland managers experience and engage with their forests, especially amongst those managing smaller, private woodlands. Managers of these small woods often display both a remarkably detailed and granular knowledge of their property, but also a deeply emotional connection to woodlands which can become laced with deep personal meaning. These intertwined threads of exceptionally detailed knowledge, and personal and historical meaning can be significantly affective in shaping woodland management decision-making, and indeed, we argue here that this combination not only influences decision making but often actually enhances it for the overall betterment of the woodland. However, smaller (particularly amateur-owned) woodlands can find themselves ill-fitting into an administrative system which often remains tailored towards larger, professionally managed forests. This is especially reported with regard to accessing grant monies, but the perception that small woods are ‘under-managed’ still looms large in much of the discourse. Drawing on qualitative interviews with woodland managers in the UK, many of whom managed 10 ha or less, we argue that in fact this cohort can be highly effective in their management, and have enormous under-utilised potential for combating the spread of arboreal pests and diseases, especially in the context of complex decline conditions such as acute oak decline. Indeed, we argue that centring the knowledge, perspectives, and objectives of those managing smaller scale woodlands must increasingly become a critical facet of scholarship and governance connected to the management of UK woodland landscapes.