15th October 2026

The Duchy was proud to sponsor the Education and Learning Award at the Royal Forestry Society's Excellence in Forestry Awards (EIF) for the third consecutive year.

The award ceremony took place on the 15th of October at Sheepdrove Organic Farm in West Berkshire.

Founded 145 years ago, the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) is dedicated to sharing knowledge on woodland management, ensuring that the expertise and experience of landowners, foresters, arborists and other professionals are passed on to future generations.

Today, the RFS' Excellence in Forestry Awards stand as the leading forestry competition across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The awards recognise outstanding silviculture, resilience, education and community projects across the South and South-East.

The FORESTED Project (Future-Oriented Regeneration of Ecological Spaces through Timber, Education and Design) won Gold for the Education and Learning Award.

Run by London Metropolitan University, the FORESTED Project aims to educate students on a tree’s journey to becoming a finished furniture item. Through practical, immersive workshops run by professional foresters and wood processors, students learn about extraction, mobile sawmilling, greenwood working and joinery.

“We’ve connected people with ecology in new and repeatable ways. Working with organisations such as the National Trust, Community Trees Trust and Woodland Heritage, we hope to explore how to grow the project across UK woodlands”.

The Silver Education and Learning Award was won by Sparsholt College’s Level 3 Forestry. Judges praised the highly practical programme, which focuses on practical woodland work.

“It’s fantastic to see the course and the students’ achievements recognised by the Royal Forestry Society”.

To find out more about the awards, head to the RFS website.