NEWS
LATEST UPDATE FROM THE GLOBAL FORESTRY INDUSTRY
THE MERSEY FOREST
Celebrating its quarter-century alongside
Forestry Journal is the Mersey Forest. 2019
marks 25 years since the plan for Mersey
Forest was approved by government, at a time
when the area was still recovering from the
recession and industrial decline of the 1980s.
Throughout the years, Mersey Forest has
achieved many notable feats, including
planting over nine million trees, which have
absorbed 524,574 tonnes of carbon dioxide,
and the creation of over 3,000 ha of woodland.
It has also achieved three times more tree
planting than the England average, and
has worked with over half the schools in
Merseyside and north Cheshire.
Paul Nolan, director, commented: “25
years ago there was a real sense of urgency
about the need to tackle the scars on our
post-industrial landscape and use
woodlands to help change perceptions
of Merseyside and north Cheshire.
Now looking ahead, there’s that same
sense of urgency about how we can
plant more trees to help tackle the
climate crisis. Now, we need our
supporters more than ever.”
FOREST
STEWARDSHIP
COUNCIL
Born out of a desire for
a system that could
credibly identify well-
managed forests as
sources of responsibly
produced wood
products, the Forest
Stewardship Council was officially launched
in 1994. Now, 25 years on, there are more than
1,600 forest management certificates, spread
across 84 countries, and 38,000 FSC chain of
custody holders in 125 countries around the
world.
“There is so much uncertainty in the world
right now, and there are big questions to
answer in the UK. What will Brexit mean for
trade in forest products, for regulation, or
for financial support for forestry? What will
be the effects of climate change, or of the
seemingly inexorable spread of tree pests
and diseases? Whatever the future holds,
we hope that FSC will be there, in the UK
and beyond, to ensure that our woods are
managed in ways which are environmentally
appropriate, socially beneficial and
economically viable, to achieve our vision of
Forests For All Forever,” said Owen Davies,
forest standards manager, FSC UK.took delivery of a brand-new
Land Rover Discovery
three-door Tdi; having left
full-time employment on
the Friday he started
up as Eamonn Wall &
Co Woodland Design
and Management on
the Saturday with the
intention of building a
small team, so took over a
small office in Dollar.
The business grew quickly.
A move 150 m down the road
followed, as well as an office south of the
Border. The firm came to own five Discoveries
but with changing BIK rules other vehicles
came into play, including Subarus, Skoda
Octavias and VW Passats. At one point,
Eamonn recalls, the firm owned 16 cars.
The English office was sold in 1999 and the
business now concentrates its activities in
Scotland from its Dollar office.
Eamonn has always been a Discovery
fan and personally has had all versions
including the first Tdi automatic and the TD5
commercial versions. Discovery 4 is certainly
his favourite, having run one for 130,000 miles.
He is now on his third, which is one of the
last made, being the Graphite runout model
based on the SE model, plus more goodies.
In fact, Eamonn’s previous Discovery was
the GS version and, so far, he has counted
25 additional features on his new Discovery.
The main differences are AdBlue, leather/
heated/electric seats, puddle lights, auto
lights/wipers, sat nav, voice activation, etc.
He doesn’t like the Disco 5 so much, he says,
so was very pleased to find his two-and-a-half-
year-old low-mileage Disco 4 which will
keep him going over the next few years.
Eamonn’s first Discovery was £15,750
back in 1992 when a new Subaru Legacy
cost about £13,000. A Subaru Outback
now costs £29,000, while a Discovery 5 retails
from around £50,000. However, Eamonn
bought his latest Discovery second-hand for
£31,000. He did briefly consider a pickup
but for Eamonn the Disco 4 is a great all-
rounder, he describes it as spacious, quiet,
comfortable, good at towing 3,500 kg, great off
road and fab looking – all while doing 29 miles
per gallon. He bought his 15th Discovery,
once again, from Pentland Land Rover in
Perth. For Eamonn, the voyage of Discovery
continues.Cause for celebration
IT’S NOT JUST FORESTRY JOURNAL MARKING
A SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY IN 2019.
28 AUGUST 2019 FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK
EAMONN’S DISCOVERY
Someone else with reason to celebrate
in 2019 in Eamonn Wall, having
recently taken delivery of his firm’s
15th Land Rover Discovery – and it
has been a long road for the forestry
and arb consultant to reach this
momentous milestone. Forestry
Journal caught up with the man
himself to find out more.
Eamonn set up his own business
on 1st August 1992, and he
remembers that day well. Firstly, heLeft: The Mersey Forest’s 25-year anniversary
campaign launch coincided with a pop-up forest in
Liverpool’s Williamson Square and a visit from the UK’s
Tree Champion, Sir William Worsley (centre).Below: Eamonn Wall (right) receives the keys to his
15th Land Rover Discovery.Bottom: An axe bearing the iconic FSC tick-tree logo.