VOLUNTEERS in the New Forest are reviving ancient customs such as charcoal production in a project to create the area’s first community woodland.

A trust using traditional woodland skills has been set up to manage the 190-acre Pondhead Inclosure, near Lyndhurst, under licence from the Forestry Commission.

The charity hopes to achieve a greater diversity of wildlife in the area as well as making it more accessible to the public.

The project, which is supported by the National Park Authority and the New Forest Trust, will also provide opportunities for schoolchildren to visit the inclosure.

Volunteers will undertake a variety of conservation tasks including coppicing – a traditional method of woodland management in which trees are cut down to the stump to stimulate new growth.

As well as benefiting the area’s wildlife the process produces timber that will be used to make high quality charcoal on site to sell locally.

Derrick Tippetts from the Pondhead Conservation Trust said: ‘We’re very excited about the prospect of restoring Pondhead Inclosure.

“We hope our work will encourage wildlife and plant life to flourish and make the area even more enjoyable for the public.

“As part of our efforts to manage the woodland in a fully sustainable way we will be using all timber cut during the autumn and winter to produce charcoal during the spring and summer, thereby reviving an old Forest custom.”

Mr Tippetts was quick to dispel any fears that charcoal burning will lead to pollution of the environment.

He said: “The production process will use modern technology that is much more environmentally friendly than traditional methods and produces a higher quality charcoal which lights easily and burns evenly.”

Anyone wishing to volunteer should go online and visit pondheadconservation .org.uk.