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Woodland

Woodlands are arguably the UK’s most iconic habitat and offer a constant changing environment throughout the year – from springtime, when seas of iridescent bluebells are flecked with white ramsons and stitchwort, through to autumn, when they are awash with the overwhelming palate of nature’s colours.

Britain’s unique geographic position in the face of prevailing Atlantic winds, together with its varied topography, geology and landscapes, has resulted in a diversity of wooded habitats in a relatively small land area and, consequently, a rich and varied flora. British woodlands are of major European and, in some cases, even global importance, with several types of woodland listed on Annex 1 of the EU Habitats Directive. One-third of IPAs include woodland habitats and species.

Woodlands can offer us so much, from walking and cycling and just a place to get away from it all to the production of a huge range of natural sustainable products, ranging from sustainable charcoal, firewood, hazel poles, timber and more recently woodfuel in the form of chips, set to power a new generation of carbon-lean heating systems. Many of the systems which could provision these goods sustainably have collapsed, so even though Hazel poles are much better for use in gardens and desperately need removing from neglected coppice, it is cheaper to buy long brittle bamboo poles imported from Asia. Likewise charcoal from tropical rainforest is often more widely available than alternatives produced by British woodland.

By combining the provision of these services with carefully targeted management we believe woodlands can once again not only become economically viable working landscapes, but also havens of biodiversity, supporting a diverse range of plants, invertebrates and birds.

Habitat features

Microhabitats provided by ravines, streams and even grooves on tree bark are particularly important for bryophytes and lichens, for which Britain has a particular international responsibility, with 65 percent of the European bryophyte flora and possibly five percent of the global flora. And, quite simply, without fungi there would be no woodlands.

Key issues

In recent decades the value of this habitat has been recognised, and recorded losses of woodland have now decreased.

While the overall area of woodland is in fact increasing in Britain, we are in danger of losing much of the diversity associated with it. The plight of rare and threatened plants within them remains desperate. Both the ghost orchid and green hound's tongue have seen their number of sites decline by over 90% since 1970 and are classified as Critically Endangered. Likewise, sites hosting the narrow-leaved helleborine have more than halved over the same period.

Many of these plants are extremely rare, but the scale of this loss means that even some relatively widespread species are now threatened. We are in danger of being left with the majority of woodlands abandoned or neglected, supporting a mere handful of the most common plants.

The key reason for this is the decline in woodland management– with many being fenced off and becoming increasingly overgrown and shaded and others simply overgrazed. In the past woodlands would have been part of vibrant working communities, with a range of people making a living from the forest and creating a patchwork of different habitats as they re-visited different areas. Woodland responded to this long term cyclical management and creation of different sub-habitats and their diversity blossomed as a result.

While there is space for non-intervention and some woodlands should be left to develop in isolation of human activities, many lowland woodlands have sunk into neglect, and the once dazzling mosaics of coppiced glades, rides and woodland edges have been lost to dense scrub and darkness, where few species are found.

What we're doing about it

• Actively lobbying government and agencies to ensure plant conservation lies at the heart of woodland management
• Advising on conservation management at a range of sites across the UK
• Carrying out hands-on practical work to save some of our rarest species
• Collecting and circulating data to highlight the trends on woodland flora distribution