Since 1985 Coed Cymru has championed a system of woodland management which is more akin to Continental practice than to 20th Century British forestry. After 20 years the changes which have occurred on thousands of sites vindicate those early decisions. Of particular interest is the use of this technique to restore broadleaf trees to conifer plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS). Although originally contentious our approach has proved highly effective and is now widely used in public and private forestry. The benefits of this gradual conversion are:-