Young forestry professionals share their learnings from the 2025 Annual Study Tour
Recipients of the 2025 Goodhart Bursary report on their experiences at the RFS Annual Study Tour in South Wales.
Among the attendees of this year’s Annual Study Tour (AST) were six foresters who benefited from the Goodhart Bursary, a grant that helps early career professionals attend the week-long event.
This year’s recipients were Karen Batten, Harvey Blowfield, Karle Collins and Freddie Hemingway. The RFS wishes to extend a special thanks to the South Wales Division for funding two additional bursaries, received by Harriet Jenkins and Benjamin Turner.
Karen had some idea of what to expect from the AST, having previously attended divisional Woodland Meetings, but she was impressed by the broad scope of the 4-day event. She noted the space for discussion, the diversity of people from across the country and the varied perspectives this brought to the conversations.
Karen’s main takeaway is that there is “no right answer” when making decisions in forestry. She believes this is an important lesson for early career professionals and she will carry this into her own professional practice.
“I was not expecting to cover the number of topics or to discuss these in the depth that we did each day of the Study Tour,” Karen added. Harvey Blowfield echoed this, noting the heightened range of discussions compared to the Woodland Meetings he had previously attended. Harriet Jenkins praised the varied site visits and the breadth of silvicultural techniques discussed.
Harriet also enjoyed the additional touches, such as a talk about ancient and veteran trees from The Woodland Trust. Harvey noted a particularly interesting debate on traditional clearfell rotations versus Continuous Cover Forestry, while fellow recipient, Freddie Hemingway considered the tour of Afan Valley by Natural Resources Wales to be one of his highlights.
“Hearing about the response to statutory plant health notice felling, the catchment-scale forest plan and the use of the ‘forest types’ approach to support operational flexibility and species choice was very informative,” said Freddie. “The approaches discussed have made me consider how I might apply them to estate-based forestry.”
Beyond the technical learning, recipients valued the connections formed during the tour. Harriet highlighted the many engaging conversations with other participants between site visits. “It allowed me to unpick my own interpretations whilst also allowing me to approach my own thoughts more critically,” she said.
Freddie said the connections he made, “especially with fellow recipients and forestry experts, will undoubtedly be valuable.” Freddie said that the experience has motivated him to “take a more active role in the RFS and other forestry bodies” and to continue growing his forestry network.
The RFS is thrilled to see the Goodhart Bursary continue to nurture this passion and help develop the skilled forestry professionals of the future.
Chairman of the South Wales Division, Tudor Morgan added: “Investing in the future of our woods is not only based on good silviculture but those that will practice it. We would like to thank the recipients for their contributions throughout the tour, often challenging the norm.”
Find out more about the Goodhart Bursary
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