Woodland Ecology and Conservation (with Integrated Foundation Year)

Climate change and biodiversity loss are the twin challenges of our time. Study a woodland ecology and conservation degree to become part of the solution by gaining expertise in forest management, biodiversity and woodland conservation.

Course overview
The Woodland Ecology and Conservation programme has been designed to prepare you to be a new kind of graduate, one that the world desperately needs to meet the challenges of the 21st century. This degree will provide you with the ecological knowledge that underpins modern sustainable forest management. Graduates are able to manage trees, woods and forests to protect biodiversity and optimise the delivery of benefits to human society directly through timber production and space for recreation, but also to apply knowledge of essential ecosystem services; carbon, nutrient and water cycling, flood and erosion control amongst others. Graduates in Woodland Ecology and Conservation are equipped to contribute solutions to the twin environmental challenges of our times: climate change and biodiversity loss.

As an undergraduate in Woodland Ecology and Conservation at the University of Cumbria, you will learn how to sustainably manage trees, woods and forests at our National School of Forestry. Throughout the course, hands-on experience will back up the theory from ancient woodlands through to commercial forests, residential study tours to the upland and lowland habitats. There will also be an opportunity to take a one-year work placement in a related profession, bolstering your confidence and putting your knowledge into practice in the real world.

You’ll be living and studying in the ideal location to appreciate and value the conservation and ecology of woodlands, with the National School of Forestry based on our inspirational Ambleside campus in the heart of the Lake District.

Your foundation year will be spent developing your base knowledge and wider understanding of forestry and conservation.

On this course you will

• Have easy access to local woodlands giving you the chance to explore different forest types and the ecosystems they support.

• Benefit from great opportunities for paid placements and graduate job prospects thanks to our links with organisations like the Royal Forestry Society and Woodland Trust.

• Learn from tutors with field experience, who conduct ground-breaking, international research that will inform your studies.

• Appreciate the role of global forests in climate change mitigation and the greatest threats to their conservation.

What you will learn
Develop your knowledge and skills around forest management. This degree programme will increase your understanding of the physical, biological, economic and sociological principles and processes that underpin forestry. Your foundation year will be spent settling into university life and gaining the confidence and skills you need to succeed in Woodland Ecology and Conservation.

You will learn to apply such principles and processes to the sustainable management of woodland multiple goods and ecosystem services (for example, protection of soil and water, and recreation, and support of a diversity of threatened plants and wildlife). You will critically assess contemporary issues in woodland conservation such as rewilding and species reintroductions.

Our programme will allow you to explore the commercial, social and environmental contexts in which forestry is practised and the consequences of forestry for the rural economy, society and the environment. You will learn how to conduct research monitoring changes in forest condition, health and carbon capture, as well as acquiring skills at describing tree and forest types and the ecological systems and processes that they support.

Year one

• Essential University Skills 1
• Essential Biology
• Scientific Investigation
• Essential University Skills 2
• Environmental Sciences
• Dynamic Earth

Year two

• Introduction to Managing Trees, Woods and Forests
• Measuring Trees and Forests
• Silviculture
• Woodland Ecology
• Biodiversity 1
• Biodiversity 2

Year three

• Biodiversity Monitoring
• Geographic Information Systems
• Research Methods and Data Analysis
• Forest Policy and Governance
• Forest Health and Protection
• Forests & People (Optional)
• Valuing the Environment (Optional)
• Environmental Change: Past Present Future (Optional)

Year four

• Forest Plan
• Dissertation
• Woodland Conservation
• Applied Field Studies (Optional)
• Advanced Silviculture (Optional)
• Business Skills (Optional)
• Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing (Optional)
• Climate Smart Forestry (Optional)
• Wildlife Management (Optional)

Although most assessments are individual, there will be opportunities for group-working, particularly in outdoor practical sessions where data is collected. This will help you develop collaborative and organisational skills ready for the workplace.

Throughout the programme, you will undertake a number of assessments, both practical and theoretical. This will allow you to practice key skills and attributes that feed into your future employability.

Examples of assessment types include:

• Creating fieldwork and laboratory reports, particularly making use of primary field notebooks;
• Writing essays or reports;
• Critically analysing ‘real life’ case studies;
• And Role-play to simulate real-world situations in the field and classroom.