Reportedly use woodland (5)
I believe the answer is:
weald
'woodland' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'reportedly use' is the wordplay.
'reportedly' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'use' becomes 'wield' ('wield' can be a synonym of 'use').
'wield' is a homophone of 'WEALD'.
(Other definitions for weald that I've seen before include "Fertile area between N. and S. Downs" , "Open or wooded country" , "area of woodland" , "Area of SE England" , "The ___, area between the North and South Downs" .)