The UK is a sparsely wooded country: 11.5% of Great Britain is
covered with trees. Only 1.2% of GB is ancient semi-natural
woodland, a valuable and irreplaceable natural resource. Ancient
semi-natural woodland, and plantations on ancient woodland sites,
are a priority for conservation.
The Ancient Woodland Inventory, maintained by each country
agency, records the location and extent of ancient semi-natural
woodland in GB. The best examples are protected by SSSI/ASSI and
SAC designations, covering approximately 21% of the ancient
woodland area. The Forestry Commission also produce and maintain an
National Inventory of
Woodland and Trees.
Many woods are threatened by neglect. Reintroduction of
management is critical where species of open woodlands are in
serious decline or where spread of invasive non-native species
threatens long-established vegetation communities. Removal of
non-native trees planted in ancient woodlands during the last 100
years can help to restore sites with remnant ground flora and old
native trees. The Forestry Commission have a policy against
clearance of broadleaved woodland for conversion to other land use,
and towards conservation of the character of ancient semi-natural
woodlands.
Issues of neglect and restoration are addressed through
Woodland Habitat Action Plans (HAPs). Several woodland types are
Priority Habitats under the
UK Biodiversity Action
Plan(BAP):
Two new Habitat Action Plans for woodland are currently being
developed – mixed broadleaved woodland and upland birch
woods.
Work to support site condition monitoring includes:
- Producing guidelines for monitoring the condition of woodland
SSSIs and BAP Priority woodlands
- Training country agency staff in monitoring methods
- Checking results to ensure method is effective
Through site survey, the LCN also contributes to monitoring of
sites with long-term datasets, and provides research data to
validate widely-held views – e.g. about long-term change in
woodlands.
The Woodland LCN also supports the use of woodland
classifications, including:
The Woodland LCN is a member of the woodland HAP Steering
Group, supporting management and restoration of woodlands, and the
Targets Group to ensure gaps are filled.
Resources
The nature conservation value of scrub in
Britain (2000)
JNCC Report 308
A pilot study to examine the potential linkage
between and applications of multiple woodland datasets: a GIS-based
analysis.
Purdy, KM & Ferris, R (1999)
JNCC Report 298
The relationship between Biodiversity Action
Plan Priority and Broad Habitat Types, and other woodland
classifications (1998)
JNCC Report 288
The conservation of lower plants
in woodland (1996)
Hodgetts, N.G
Long-term monitoring of ecological changes in British
woodlands
English Nature
Objective setting and condition monitoring within woodland Sites of
Special Scientific Interest.
PDF- 2MB
Kirby, K, Latham, J, Holl, K, Bryce, J, Corbett, P & Watson, R
(2002)
English Nature Research Reports, No. 472
The nature conservation value of scrub in
Britain.
Mortimer, SR, Turner, AJ, Brown, VK, Fuller, RJ, Good, JEG, Bell,
SA, Stevens, PA, Norris, D, Bayfield, N & Ward, LK (2000)
JNCC Report 308
Measuring long term ecological change in British woodlands
(1971–2000). A pilot re-survey of 14 sites from the ITE/NCC 'Bunce
1971' woodland survey and two sites from the 1971 Native Pinewood
Survey.
PDF - 1.53 MB
Smart, SM, Bunce, RGH, Black, HJ, Ray, N, Bunce F, Kirby, K,
Watson, R & Singleton, D (2001) English Nature Research
Reports, No. 461
Link