Welcome to Roots West Sussex, a community interest company managing woodlands and habitats for biodiversity in West Sussex through coppicing, hedgelaying, woodland management and habitat creation.
Our social forestry model brings people together through common interest and puts woods in their rightful place at the heart of the community.
Social forestry harnesses the power of the community, using hand tools, to restore and create habitiats to help increase biodiversity. This has a real impact on our mental and physical health through time outside and in community, in addition to improving the health of the woodland ecosystem and aiding nature recovery in West Sussex.
Join us in the woods
Our Projects
We started our first coppicing project in 2022 and have grown in scope and scale since then to manage several sites and projects with our community
Ashington
Where it all began! We run fortnightly community sessions returning a beautiful long-established woodland to coppice rotation for biodiversity. Two seasons in and we are seeing extensive oak, ash and hawthorn regen on the woodland floor thanks to the improved light.
Wiston
We've brought together a thriving and diverse community to coppice areas of the Wiston Estate for biodiversity, alongside the ecology and forestry team together with charity Making It Out and the University of Brighton. Our Wiston project is kindly funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and the Wiston Estate.
Hole Street Highway
Connecting up habitats including two of our coppice sites via a 1km stretch of hedgerow, through hedgelaying, planting, tree surgery and veteranisation. The Hole Street Highway forms part of the wider Weald to Waves nature recovery corridor and is funded by Southern Water.
Community Supported Firewood
Supplying affordable firewood from woodlands managed for biodiversity through community coppicing and processing sessions and felling dead and diseased trees to allow for natural regeneration.
Contractor services
End-to-end small woodland management and forestry services including invasive species management, felling, hedgelaying, horse-logging and timber extraction, stacking and processing, from a team of qualified professionals.
Workshops and Wellbeing
Creating community and fostering wellbeing through sharing food and drinks, time in woodlands, physical exercise, learning together, developing and practicing skills, making and creationg, and building a resilient and connected woodland culture.
Projects Supported
Get in touch
Telephone: +44 753 8111593
E-mail: info@rootswestsussex.co.uk
Address: Browns Lane 11, Pulborough, RH20 4LG, West Sussex, United Kingdom