A fire broke out in Aberhirnant Forest – close to the Snowdonia National Park - destroying around 40 hectares of trees and vegetation.Having left the effected area for a few years to fully assess the extent of the damage and to see how sections of it would recover, the Forestry Commission called in Spencer earlier this year to re-establish the site and prepare it for a major replanting programme.
Once the project commenced, Spencer’s team worked systematically across the site with its excavator-mounted tree mulching machines, shredding the scorched branches, breaking down the now lifeless trees and turning the materials into a ground-level mulch.
The process of mulching is acknowledged industry-wide as an expedient method of preparing sites for agricultural and forestry development. It enhances the soil beneath by conserving moisture and preventing evaporation, as well as suppressing weed growth and helping fertilization.
Once Spencer had completed its work, the area became ready for the next stage of the Forestry Commission’s Silverculture programme - the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health and quality of its forests. This programme forms part of a long-term project run in association with WEFO (the Welsh European Funding Office), which manages the delivery of the EU Structural Fund in Wales.
Because the mulching process was carried out so successfully, the Forestry Commission was able to commence its planting programme shortly afterwards. When completed, this revitalised part of the Penllyn Forest complex will contain a variety of species, including: Scots Pine, Sitka Spruce, Serbian Spruce and a wide range of broadleaf trees.
