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CoedNet is a new directory of community woodland groups and businesses in Wales selling sustainable woodland products, services and experiences.
We know that there are lots of groups, organisations and individuals doing amazing things in the woods of Wales, making fantastic sustainable woodland products, like handmade furniture, seasoned firewood, and even edibles like birch syrup. They’re also offering useful services, like woodland management advice, and amazing experiences, like mindfulness retreats or responsible foraging courses.
CoedNet connects these together in one place, making it easier to find, buy or sell them. This helps provide much-needed income, which can be retained in the local economy.
CoedNet has been created by a team working for Llais y Goedwig (the community woodland network in Wales), on a Rural Development Programme (RDP) funded project called Goods from the Woods. Llais y Goedwig will continue to host and maintain the platform.
CoedNet is a directory, rather than an online shop. Through CoedNet you can search for local woodland groups and businesses that are offering products and services near you. You can also search for a specific product, service or experience and see who is currently offering this for sale.
Each woodland group or business has its own listings page on CoedNet. From here you can find out how to make a purchase. Sometimes this will just be an email address, for other groups or businesses, you might click through to a different website to make a purchase.
For the duration of the project (until June 2023) we are supporting woodland groups and businesses who are new to online selling to create an online shop, through a series of training events. Support with online marketing will also be available.
Each woodland trader is different, so arrangements such as delivery/collection will vary, but will always be clearly explained, so you know what to expect. If you have any questions, you can always contact the seller directly using the contact details on their CoedNet profile page.
In the first instance, please try and rectify any issues directly with the seller. If this doesn’t help or you wish to escalate a matter, please contact us directly using the Contact Us page. However, please note that CoedNet is not responsible for any goods or services offered for sale on or off the platform.
The development of CoedNet has been made possible with funding from the RDP Cooperation and Supply chain scheme to promote community resilience and support the development of sustainable supply chains. The ethos of CoedNet is to support local communities and make them more resilient. Why buy a bag of supermarket charcoal sourced from abroad when you could buy from a local, sustainable source right here in Wales?
Over time, CoedNet will become self-sufficient, supported by income from listings and/or adverts on the site. We do not take any commission from sales generated by CoedNet.
The standard package is free to businesses of all sizes with the option to upgrade to an enhanced listing. This gives your woodland enterprise more prominence on the site, including the opportunity to be on the homepage. Upgrades cost from £12/yr (including VAT).
All woodland enterprises have agreed to our sustainability statement, which means that the woodlands from which products are derived or where services are delivered, are managed sustainably and that a suitable management and operations plan is in place which encompasses all activities carried out in the woodlands.
We are committed to the sustainable harvesting of materials from woodlands to produce our products. To this end, we ask all woodland enterprises to:
– have written permission/a contract/a licence in place to collect the materials from/deliver services in the woodlands accessed.
– collect/gather these materials/products according to the conditions that are detailed in the permission/contract/licence, which corresponds to the detail in the operations plan.
– use best practice guidance (where available) to collect/gather these materials/products in order to limit or mitigate any negative ecological implications.
Llais y Goedwig supports community woodland groups in Wales so the project and platform is Wales-based and at present only features woodland enterprises based in Wales. However, customers do not have to be based in Wales. If you aren’t in Wales you might also be interested in these sites, which are more focused on England and/or Scotland:
Woodlots https://www.woodnet.org.uk/woodlots/
Cloud Forest https://cloudforest.market/
CoedNet is a fully searchable online directory, so if you know the name of the woodland group or business you can find it quickly, and if you know what you want to buy, you can also quickly find a list of potential suppliers. Or, if you just want to see woodland producers near you and what kind of things they’re offering for sale, you can do that too.
CoedNet isn’t an online shop. If you want to make a purchase, you’ll need to do that on the individual sales platform used by each individual woodland group or enterprise. For some, this might just be an email address allowing you to make an enquiry, for others it might be an online shop.
You might be wondering what kind of things woodland groups and businesses offer for sale. You’ll be amazed at the diversity!
We’ve found it helpful to make a distinction between physical products, such as firewood, furniture or seeds, and ‘services’, which also includes ‘experiences’, such as forest school, mindfulness sessions, yoga in the woods, foraging courses, that kind of thing.
When you go to the CoedNet homepage, you can search from a dropdown list of products or a dropdown list of services/experiences, and then see which woodland enterprises are offering them near you.
Absolutely! The platform is open to anyone, so long as you are practising sustainable woodland management and your products are responsibly sourced.
It is completely free to join CoedNet so you’ve got nothing to lose by giving it a go! You’ll just need some photos of what you do in your woods and be ready to fill out a simple online form. If you’re not yet selling online and would like to, get in touch – we can even give you help setting up!
As this is a new online directory, we’re all on a learning curve and will be making iterations for the next couple of months. We’d love to hear your feedback, whether as a woodland group or enterprise using the platform to promote your activities and products, or as a customer looking to buy more sustainable woodland products and services. You can send feedback via the contact form here.
This is an exciting time to be working in Welsh woodlands. From small acorns grow mighty oaks. We can’t wait to see how big CoedNet will grow!