Whether you have upcoming new developments or are looking to enhance existing construction projects with wildlife habitat, you may have come across the term ‘woodcrete’, ‘woodstone’, or a variation of the name. This hardy material is commonly used in bird and bat boxes and is often favoured for its longevity and cost-effectiveness. Here we take a closer look at woodcrete, its properties and manufacturing to help you make informed decisions when beginning new construction projects.
What is woodcrete?
Originally patented by Durisol and developed for the construction industry, woodcrete is a building material composed of cement, wood fibres and water. The material is referred to by a number of names, though they are almost identical in composition – woodstone is a trademark registered by Vivara Pro and woodconcrete is the term used by Schwegler, Faunus and Unitura, all suppliers of woodcrete bird and bat habitats.
A built-in swift box that has been rendered over, leaving just the access point visible.
Woodcrete Properties
A long-lasting, durable material, woodcrete can last for decades. It is weather resistant, does not support fungal growth and unlike wood products, does not rot. It does not leak, warp or crack, making it the ideal long-lasting, secure material for wildlife habitats.
The breathability of the material reduces the risk of issues with condensation, helping to maintain a healthy environment for roosting inhabitants.
It has good insulative properties and creates a stable environment inside the box to shelter inhabitants from extreme temperatures – especially important for maternity boxes where young are resting.
More lightweight than concrete, with great durability and strength, this material is suitable for both built-in and mounted nest boxes. The rough inner surfaces provide texture for bats to cling to, and create a safer, more natural environment for nesting animals. Built-in boxes can also be incorporated into brickwork and can be rendered over to blend into the structure whilst providing habitat benefits for local wildlife.
Woodcrete bat boxes during installation (left), built-in (middle) and rendered over (right)
Woodcrete Applications
Woodcrete is used as a construction material, as well as a variety of building and garden products, including artificial habitat products to support wildlife. These can include bat boxes, bird boxes, insect hides, bee bricks and hedgehog domes. Most commonly, woodcrete bat and bird boxes are available in built-in forms that are installed directly into the walls during the construction of new developments. These boxes are designed to cater to species subjected to habitat loss resulting from the development project itself, or urbanisation in the general area.
The material is made by chipping specially graded recycled waste wood and mineralising the chips to neutralise sugars. The chip is mixed with cement and water to create the woodcrete mixture, before being poured into moulds like regular concrete. These moulds are cured at high temperatures to ensure strength and weather-resistance and can take a considerable amount of time for the full curing process to take place.
The manufacturing of woodcrete products is a lengthy process which can cause longer lead times. We recommended ordering any woodcrete product as far in advance as possible to avoid delays.
If you have any questions about our range or would like some advice on the right product for you then please contact us via email at customer.services@nhbs.com or phone on 01803 865913.
For years, Richard Fortey has found the uniqueness of fungi fascinating, from theirstrange forms, colours, reputation, rapid appearance and disappearance, to theiroften unseen role within the natural world. Close Encounters of the Fungal Kindtakes the reader on an enthralling journey through Fortey’s forays searching for the strangest, most extraordinary and most delicious species. Focusing on a selection of the larger fungi and a handful of microfungi, this charming book celebrates their profusion, diversity and importance.
Richard Fortey is a palaeontologist, nature historian, writer and presenter who worked as the Natural History Museum’s senior palaeontologist until 2006. Richard has served on the councils of the Systematics Association, Palaeontographical Society, British Mycological Society and more. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1997 and was awarded an OBE in the 2023 New Years Honours for services to palaeontology and geology.
We recently spoke to Richard about his book, his first introduction to fungi, his hopes for the future of mycological research and more.
The fungal kingdom is enigmatic, and in recent years it has gripped the attention of naturalists and the wider public alike, thanks to books such as this one. Do you remember your first introduction to fungi that sent you on this path of discovery?
As a child in Ealing on the fringes of London, we were lucky enough to have a large garden. I remember wondering at a great clump of glistening ink caps that appeared around a rotting stump – apparently overnight. In a day or two they had turned into a black soup. About the only book available then (I must have been about ten years old) was The Observer’s Book of Mushrooms and Toadstools, but I managed to identify our stump fungus as Coprinus micaceus. Finding others in the book became a challenge.
Fungi are everywhere, spores floating through the air, mycelial networks underneath our feet, and even in the deep ocean. Can you describe one of your most unexpected encounters with the fungal kind whilst compiling this book?
At my sister-in-law’s house in the rainforest of New South Wales, there were a host of fungi on the ground and on fallen trees. One of them growing on a trunk seemed to be an old and edible friend – the Oyster Mushroom. But when I went out in the dark, I was amazed to see it glowing with a ghostly greenish light. It was an Aussie double of our oyster, and a decidedly poisonous one. I used a photo of it taken by its own light in the book, and it still looks quite unearthly even now I know its identity.
You open the book describing an enchanting trip to the hills of northern Italy for a celebration of the foragers’ favourite, the Bolete. If you were to organise a mycologically focused celebration in the UK, which location would you choose?
When it is in top form it is hard to beat the New Forest for variety and number of species. Boletes used to abound there, and every kind of milkcap and brittlegill still does, and it is about the only place to see the extraordinary Nail Fungus emerging from pony dung.
In your book, you allude to the challenges of understanding taxonomy as a novice or intermediate mushroom fan through the lens of species names. However, you also highlight the importance of both binomial nomenclature and common vernacular names. Do you have a favourite species name, both scientific and common? And to take this further do you have any personal/pet names that you find yourself using for species?
The common small bracket that grows in tiers on dead logs is known as the Turkey Tail – and it really does look like a fanned-out tail of this big bird, with a neat white rim and a neatly zoned dark upper surface. The best scientific name really doesn’t beat around the nomenclatural bush, and it must be Phallus impudicus. The Stinkhorn indeed resembles an upright human reproductive organ and even retains a distinctively scrotal sac at its base. And it smells like rotting meat – the species name refers to that. As for pet names, my young nephew always referred to the beautiful but poisonous scarlet Fly Agaric as “Killer Diller” – and that name seems to have stuck.
As someone with a long career in the sciences, a lifelong mycologist, and an inspiring naturalist, which direction would you like to see mycology take in the next few years as it expands as both a field of research and a subject of interest?
There’s no question that DNA studies are taking mycology into a new direction – not least enabling us to ‘see’ fungi even without having their fruitbodies, for example, by sampling soils in different habitats. I believe that fungi are even better indicators of environmental health than our plants, and I really hope that conservation bodies – and farmers – realize that they need to fully recognize the contribution of fungi to total biodiversity. There are so many different species that identification often poses a challenge, and I personally welcome the development of apps to help, but there is no substitute for getting down on hands and knees on the forest floor. If a fraction of those who make birds their hobby took up mycology it would do no end of good to public awareness.
Finally, what’s occupying your time at the moment? Are you working on any other projects that you can tell us about?
I have had an ongoing project raising fungus gnats – which are also very diverse. One large fungus can feed a hundred tiny flies, and these in turn feed insectivores. Their importance in the food chain has been underestimated. Which species of fungi feed which gnats is still incompletely known, however this is the kind of project I can do in a small woodland like my own.
Close Encounters of the Fungal Kind is available from our online bookstore.
For many people, the mention of mushrooms conjures up images of stroganoff, druids, or damp housing. However, for those of us who are mycologically inclined, a vast kingdom of species, ecological interactions, and secondary metabolites awaits to boggle the mind. Fungi are everywhere, circulating through the air as spores, forming networks below our feet, and even influencing popular culture. But what is mycology?
Originating from the Greek language, mycology translates to the study of fungus. The term was first coined in the early 19th century, but the study of fungi goes much further back. The Greeks pioneered written fungal observations, initially through records of poisonings. They were also the first to attempt to classify mushrooms (fungi), albeit as plants with missing parts, a narrative that persisted until the late 1960s when the fungal kingdom was first described.
Since the Greeks, theories about fungi origins ebbed and flowed throughout written history. From a modern taxonomic standpoint, Linnaeus (the father of modern taxonomy who formalised binomial nomenclature) and his contemporaries were integral to mycology, describing groups (genera) that still exist today, such as Boletus and Agaricus – though these have been heavily adapted from the original classifications. However, at this time, mushrooms were still classified as plants within the subcategory of ‘Cryptogamia’, due to the lack of apparent sexual organs, a similar grouping to that of the Greeks. But is mycology solely concerned with mushrooms, colloquially known as toadstools, the enigmatic, ephemeral fruits of fungal species?
The short answer is no. Once thought to be asexual plants, mushrooms are actually the reproductive structures of fungal species that form networks of organic strands called hyphae, collectively known as mycelium. When two sexually compatible hyphal strands from the same species meet, they twist and writhe, forming a knot. It is from this mycelial joint enterprise that the mushroom fruits, hence the term ‘fruiting bodies’.
Boletus and Agaricus are prime examples of iconic toadstool-forming fungal genera. Once fully developed, the toadstool drops spores, either from pores (in the case of Boletus) or gills (as with Agaricus). These generaare members of Basidiomycota (the spore-droppers) that release spores to fall to the ground. The other major fungal group, Ascomycota, the spore-shooters, fire spores from specially adapted tissue into the wind. Fungi classified as Basidiomycetes do not exclusively form toadstools, there is a large variety of fruitbody formations, each with unique identifying features and characteristics. Examples include brackets, puffballs, earthstars, stinkhorns, corals, toothed fungi, jellies, rusts, and smuts.
Ascomycetes, the spore-shooters, exhibit a similarly large variety of fruit body forms. Many ascomycete fruit bodies are considered cup fungi, such as the morel – a forager’s favourite. Cup fungi belong to the Pezizomycetes. This subgroup also contains truffles, which are prized by chefs, foodies, and mammals of various sizes. Other intriguing forms include saddle-shaped fungi, earth tongues, and club- and finger-shaped fungi.
Ascomycete fungi are known for their propensity for parasitism and pathogenicity, such as the ever-fascinating Cordyceps (zombie ant fungus), made famous by The Last of Us, or Ergot(ClavicepsPurpurea), a plant pathogen. Ergot is hallucinogenic when consumed by mammals and most famously caused a ‘dancing plague’ among villagers in the early 20th century. Some fungi do not produce hyphae and therefore do not form mycelial networks or fruit bodies. A famous example of an Ascomycete fungus that doesn’t produce spores, mushrooms, or mycelium is yeast (Saccharomyces). Yeast is unicellular and present in the air and has had a dramatic impact on human societies via bread and beer, a winning combination.
Lichens represent a fascinating intersection of biology, ecology, and mycology. These composite organisms are the result of a symbiotic partnership between a primary photo-biont, typically algae or cyanobacteria, and a fungal host. The photo-biont contributes photosynthetic sugars, while the fungus creates a stable environment for the photo-biont to thrive. This mutualistic relationship is an ingenious ecological strategy that allows both partners to survive in diverse and often extreme environments. Interestingly, as mycologists delve deeper into lichen biology, more complex partnerships are being discovered. Notably, 98% of the fungi associated with lichens belong to the ascomycetes, the group of spore-shooting fungi, and almost half of all ascomycetes participate in lichen formation.
Let’s touch on slime moulds, another group commonly mistaken for fungi. These soil-dwelling amoeba, originally described as ‘fast-growing fungus’, were integrated into fungal evolutionary history until the 1970s. Slime moulds share similarities with fungi in their lifecycles and ecological niches, but despite their name and popular belief, they belong to a different kingdom altogether – the protozoan kingdom. It’s easy to see why they were once considered members of the fungal kingdom, as they ‘fruit’ under similar conditions and are often found on rotten substrates in damp forests.
The often-overlooked fungal kingdom has been a keycomponent to the development of life on earth andis often cited as one of the drivers for terrestrial evolution. Alongside its significance in evolutionary history, this unique kingdom has also benefitted humans for millennia andis expected to play a vital role in future healthcare, farming and food security. In addition to these significant contributions to civilisation, fungi are a delight to stumble across in the wild and are an object of beauty and wonder for many. Whether you are a seasoned mycologist, budding enthusiast or a complete beginner, fungi are bound to captivate you with their peculiarities –so why not head out this autumn, explore the forest floor, and see what you can find?
Below we have listed some recommendations for popular field guides and recent titles suitable for mycologists, as well as the NHBS Beginners Field Mycology Kit:
This extensive guide covers the fungi of the British Isles in astonishing detail and is written, and illustrated, by leading mycologists and horticultural scientists
Acclaimed scientist and author Richard Fortey acknowledges the otherworldliness of fungi and marvels at their charm in this enthusiastic and passionate book
An illuminating account of the invisible fungi that share our world, this book explores the evolution and adaptation of these organisms, the latest research surrounding the fungal kingdom and more
A beautifully designed pocketbook on the world’s fungi, this expertly written work contains an astonishing amount of information and covers a range of topics, including myths, folklore and modern culture
An illustrated mini field guide packed with information on over 200 species found in Britain. A concise written account covers size, description, habitat and the season in which each fungus may be found.
NHBS Beginners Field Mycology Kit
This comprehensive kit equips you with the essentials to observe and document fungi in any weather. The kit contains a Singlet Loupe 21mm 10x Hand Lens, a Rite in the Rain Spiral Bound Notebook and four Field Studies Council Guides (The Fungi Name-trail, Distinctive Gilled Fungi, Distinctive Non-gilled Fungi and Distinctive Grassland Fungi).
The Orchid Outlaw tells the tale of author Ben Jacob’s mission to save some of the UK’s rarest, native orchids. With many facing extinction due to land use change and the climate crisis, while also not being protected by environmental and planning laws, Ben took it upon himself to rescue these threatened plants and grow them in his own kitchen and garden, rather than losing the plants all together. In doing so, he placed himself on the wrong side of the law. This part memoir, part natural history piece shows us how we can all save the world one plant at a time.
Ben works as a University lecturer by day, and as a clandestine ecologist, conservationist and Orchid-saviour by night. It is always a pleasure to meet the authors behind our books, particularly those who are adopting their own approach to nature restoration and conservation, and we were delighted to have the opportunity to talk to Ben in person about The Orchid Outlaw and have him sign our books. We discussed how he first became interested in Botany, his thoughts on the Right to Roam movement, what he hopes the reader can learn from his book and more. Read the full author interview on the Conservation Hub.
Firstly, can you tell us about yourself and how you first became interested in both Botany and orchids?
By day I’m a mild-mannered lecturer (in a subject which has very little to do with science or botany); by night I am a guerrilla conservationist with a focus on rescuing, conserving, and bringing back to the land, our native orchids. The Orchid Outlaw explains the journey I took from a chance encounter with a tropical orchid in a garden centre as a child, which led me, when I was older, to trekking through jungles to look for tropical species, then, and older still, via a mugging, an enforced return to England and a broken back, to encounter Britain’s – and Europe’s – native orchids. As I learned more about these species, I realised that my preconceptions about our native orchids and the state of our natural environment were wrong. I became aware of the significant recent decline in orchid populations… and began my unorthodox means of saving them. I tell this story alongside (hopefully) entertaining diversions through history, medicine, man’s changing relationship with nature, Charles Darwin’s discovery of evolution, and a critical exploration of the laws which exist to protect wildlife in this country – but which are so full of huge holes that battalions of construction vehicles can rumble straight through, crushing all life before them. Which they do. Daily. Without any legal consequences.
In contrast, a well-intentioned conservationist (like me) rescuing wild flora or fauna from private land which is about to be turned into a housing estate, without first going through the hurdles required to gain permission from the landowner, risks fines of £5,000 per plant or six months in prison. Do these laws make sense? No. Are they helping sustain a healthy and diverse population of native species? No. So, like any laws which don’t work, someone should stand up to them and do what needs to be done.
Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) by Oli Haines.
In the past week, the European Council has formally adopted the Nature Restoration law. Do you think this law could have any influence on conservation policy here in Britain, and to what extent do you think it will change people’s attitudes towards our responsibility to protect the natural environment?
In Britain (as elsewhere) 2024 is a national election year so any impact on British political attitudes of a European law will depend to an extent on which party wins. Unfortunately, none of our main political parties have a good track record when it comes to protecting our natural heritage for us and future generations – we have seen a rapid decline in numbers across all species and native habitats over many decades presided over by both main parties and a coalition. Of course, for the sake of everyone’s future, I’d like to think this European Council law marks a shift in geo-political will which will pull all national policies into its orbit (fingers-crossed)… but the realist in me suggests that unless meaningful, accountable, well-policed penalties accompany laws, those laws tend to make little concrete difference (consider for example international laws around freedom of expression, asylum, and war crimes, which are broken all around the world every day).
The Orchid Outlaw highlighted how pre-industry anthropogenic land use is intertwined with orchid distribution, particularly in the UK. How do you think rewilding (which is currently a very hot topic) can be implemented in a way that supports these species that may have benefitted from traditional land management rather than being left to nature?
The Orchid Outlaw looks a little bit at how native orchids thrived in the habitat niches created on a large scale by man, including hay meadows, and how centuries of people-managed woodland (the clearing of underwood and occasional felling) provided conditions which helped many native orchid species to thrive. Of course, these habitats had existed long before people (meadows had been formed, for example, by large, now extinct cattle, naturally falling trees, and wildfires) so, in many ways, mankind took on the role of these natural forces for his own benefit and, in the process, allowed many other species – not only orchids – to benefit too. In this sense, ‘rewilding’ is not simply a case of letting an area go wild without any human intervention – ironically this kind of habitat is completely ‘un-wild’ unless it is stocked with the right range of creatures which are going to complete the tapestry of life (and death) needed to reach a healthy, natural, sustainable equilibrium.
Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza) by Jo Graeser.
How can we mitigate orchid loss in a practical conservation framework when vital species-specific symbiotic relationships with fungi are not considered, so these species may not be protected under current schemes?
There are all kinds of gaping holes in our awareness of the world – and what really goes on in the soil, which sustains everything, is one of them. Because of this particular hole, soil health has fallen through the gaps of wildlife conservation laws, even though soil, like the sea, is a vast, living, environment containing more life than we can see and it is an environment upon which the world depends. Orchids in particular have a very complex, as yet only partially understood, crucial relationship with certain soil fungi (mycorrhizae). This is because orchid seed germinates unlike that of any other plant. It creates a symbiotic relationship with a specific mycorrhiza in order to then form a kind of hairy blob (a ‘protocorm’) which, eventually, sometimes after many years living underground sustained only by fungus, becomes a flowering plant. This makes orchids important indicators of soil health, because it seems that the mycorrhizae they need are adversely affected by artificial fertilisers and herbicides. In a way then, our orchids have taught me that any conservation framework has to start from the ground – literally, the dirt – up, because that is the secret to success. If the earth and the microbes in it are right for the plants there – and, of course, plants are crucial to any rewilding project – then insects, birds, mammals will come and the tapestry of life which orchids introduced to me will weave itself.
The right to roam movement is growing, especially close to home here in Devon. What are your thoughts on trespassing for the purpose of immersing and enjoying nature that is legally out of reach for the majority of citizens? Following this, if the laws were to change do you think it would affect attitudes towards nature with more people having the chance to be exposed to nature?
Let’s be honest, this is ‘our’ land. Our ancestors built it, fought for it, died for it, are buried in it; it is deplorable that we do not have the right to roam – considerately and with respect – upon our land. The right to roam exists in Scotland without any major detriment to anybody and the fact that it does not exist in England and Wales says a great deal about the sway the old class system still holds here – after all, 0.06% of the population owns half of rural England and Wales and much of this land distribution extends back to the days of feudal lords. For centuries, no one has done much to change this status quo.
Obviously, allowing people the chance to experience nature is a great way of changing attitudes to it… but a lot of the land we can roam in Devon is still unavailable to those in inner city areas, so a shift in awareness towards our natural world – our natural heritage, formed over thousands of years and which we should be proud to pass on to our children –– is not solely about opening up rural land. The recent pandemic made many people far more aware of how important being outside in nature is to our wellbeing – whether in a park or allotment or an uncut verge with a bench to sit on and wild flowers buzzing with insects and flickering with butterflies. So, while the right to roam is important, I think wider appreciation of the real value of nature will be helped by allowing nature to be more present everywhere in everyone’s life – from green roofs, wild parks and county farms, to unmown verges and tree-lined streets smothered in bird boxes…
What do you hope the reader can learn from The Orchid Outlaw?
On the one hand, I like to think that The Orchid Outlaw takes a reader on the same journey of discovery I went on, with orchids as my guide, opening my eyes to so much I hadn’t known. One of the biggest wake-up calls orchids gave me was the inadequacy of our wildlife laws and the massive, underreported decline of some our native flora. Orchids also taught me about the important microfauna all around us, the complex nature of soil, the history of botany and herbalism, and of course the fascinating world of native orchids themselves – the magical co-evolution that has occurred between orchids and their pollinators, the fact that some species never need sunlight, that others grow a metre tall and smell of decay, and some can live to be over a hundred years old… and a great deal more.
On the other hand, and perhaps more importantly, I’d like to think that what I do, as unorthodox as it is, shows that you don’t have to be a scientist, researcher, or working for an official institution to make a positive impact for the other living organisms on our planet.
Can you tell us what’s occupying your time at the moment? Do you have any other books in progress that we can hear about?
Aside from the usual rescuing and reintroducing native orchids, at the end of The Orchid Outlaw I talk about moving to the countryside to an old house which needed – and continues to need – a lot of attention. So, the garden (which was essentially a forest of nettles) and the lab I started building at the bottom of the garden to propagate orchids (so I no longer need to turn the kitchen into my lab) is largely what occupies my spare time. In any spare moments I am working on a couple of book proposals, both of which relate to elements of The Orchid Outlaw, but, for now, they’re closely guarded secrets!
The Orchid Outlaw has been published by John Murray and is available from our online bookstore.
Ben works as a University lecturer by day, and as a clandestine ecologist, conservationist and Orchid-saviour by night. It is always a pleasure to meet the authors behind our books, particularly those who are adopting their own approach to nature restoration and conservation, and we were delighted to have the opportunity to talk to Ben in person about The Orchid Outlaw and have him sign our books. We discussed how he first became interested in Botany, his thoughts on the Right to Roam movement, what he hopes the reader can learn from his book and more. Read the full author interview on the Conservation Hub.
