©Mark Hamblin/2020VISION
Managing our woodlands for wildlife
Woodlands have been essential to many species, including people, for thousands of years. They are used for timber, fuel, shelter, and more recently for public recreation. Woodlands also play an important role in securing carbon, purifying the air and helping prevent flooding.
Management of our woodlands is essential to the survival of our native flora and fauna
Whilst woodland management can look and feel destructive, with concerns around the detrimental impact of tree removal, management of our woodlands is essential to the survival and benefit of our native flora and fauna. Without management we cannot create a varied and vibrant ecosystem for future generations to cherish.
Read more below.
Managing our woodland for future generations
Well managed woodlands create a diversity of wildlife, help endangered species survive and can extend the lives of our woodlands. Ensuring these spaces exist for future generations is of upmost importance for people, for the species who call them home and for the woodlands themselves.
How woodland management impacts climate change
Woodlands play a vital role in securing carbon and purifying the air we breathe, and sustainable management can increase carbon storage in a woodland by reducing competition for large trees. So how do we ensure that our woodlands are providing useful carbon storage?
What are coppicing and thinning and how do they help?
Coppicing can rejuvenate trees and encourages the growth of woodland flowers by allowing light to reach the woodland floor. This helps flowering plants and grasses to grow and provides food for insects which in turn feed other animals such as birds, bats and mammals.
The management process and how we use timber
Woodland management can be a noisy, messy and brutal-looking process, but sometimes, you need to be cruel to be kind. Management of our woodlands is a necessary activity and it’s definitely a case of short-term pain for long-term gain.
What does managed woodland look like?
Woodland management can cause initial significant visual change, but we must remember the long-term goals for the future of the woodland, for the various species that call the woodland home and for future generations.
Ash dieback and what we're doing about it
Ash dieback is sweeping through the country, causing death to many of our ash trees. Woodland management ensures we can limit the destruction and have a 'plan B' ready to take the place of infected ash trees.