UK's ancient woods are being lost faster than the Amazon

by Amy Judd | October 21, 2008 at 09:09 am

509 views | 15 Recommendations | 19 comments

Britain's ancient woodland is being torn down at a faster rate than even the Amazon rainforest. About half the woods in the UK are more than 400 years old and they have all been lost in the last 80 years.

More than 600 other woods are being threatened by urbanization and development, meaning new roads, electricity lines, housing and airport expansions.

The report, made by the Woodland Trust comes on the heels of a government purchase order to buy several acres of the Two Mile Wood outside Weymouth that will make way for a bypass. This ancient forest, immortalized in Thomas Hardy's novels, is one of the best Bluebell woods in Britain and is filled with ancient trees, such as beech, oak and hornbeam.

"Ancient woodland, designated as over 400 years old in England, is the UK's equivalent of rainforest. It is irreplaceable," said Ed Pomfret, campaigns director of the trust. "It's our most valuable space for wildlife, and home to rare and threatened species. Once these woods have gone, they will never come back. They are historical treasure troves."

Species such as the willow tit, marsh tit, barbastelle bat, Bechstein's bat, pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly and dormouse all rely on ancient woodland to survive.

The rate at which woods in the UK are lost is comparable to the Amazon rainforest.
Natural heritage is not given the same importance as buildings in their preservation and upkeep. Nearly 85% of ancient woodland in the UK is not protected. In the last 10 years, 100 square miles of woodland has come under threat, and the pressure is only growing.
At this time, there are 243 woods threatened by roads, 216 by power lines, 106 by housing, 61 by quarrying and 45 by airport expansion.

The threats posed to the UK's ancient woodland

Aberdeen Western Bypass: Fifteen ancient woods at risk of damage by a new dual carriageway around Aberdeen. Currently at public inquiry stage.

Weymouth relief road: Two Mile Coppice ancient woodland would be partly destroyed by this road expansion linking Weymouth to Dorchester. The Woodland Trust, and other bodies, fought this case at public inquiry.

Lake Wood, Uckfield, East Sussex: Lake Wood is threatened by local council application for 750 houses. The planning application was rejected, the developers appealed and the result of a public inquiry is expected shortly.

Bramley Frith Wood, Hampshire: The National Grid wanted to expand its existing electricity sub-station into this wood, which is hugely valuable for wildlife and used to have an education centre where nationally important research on dormice was undertaken. The Woodland Trust opposed this and even took the government's biodiversity advisers to court to try to overturn the decision but National Grid is now pressing ahead.

Stansted airport, Essex: BAA is planning a new runway which would destroy five ancient woods and damage many more. They have submitted a planning application and the case will be considered at a public inquiry next year.

Horton wood, West Sussex: Threatened by a landfill site which wants to expand. The planning application is being decided without an environmental impact assessment.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Sputnic

at 09:35 on October 21st, 2008

Good stuff. The balance between human need and protecting the environment desperatly needs to be met

Amy Judd

at 10:12 on October 21st, 2008

I agree - at the moment it is not.

Fairbanks

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:50 on October 21st, 2008

Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest is barely a bowshot wide anymore. Same with Walden Pond. But there is more forested land in what is now the USA than there was two centuries ago.

Amy Judd

at 10:14 on October 21st, 2008

That is interesting actually. In most countries, it is just disappearing and cannot be re-grown fast enough.

Barbara McPherson

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:19 on October 21st, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. So much of English history revolves around their hardwood forests -- from Robin Hood's bows to the oak of the explorers' ships, of course more should be protected. Do we really need another airport runway?

ghbonello (not verified)

at 11:32 on October 21st, 2008

There is a definite need to recognise the importance of ancient woodland for so many of our native species and to legislate to protect it. Re-development of brown-field sites in run-down inner cities should be the priority and not continued expansion into the greenbelt.

onlychanelno5

at 11:52 on October 21st, 2008

These Beech trees are almost 100 years old, sitting on the edge of what was formerly the Mellon Family Mansion property in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Now they line the property of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts next to Mellon Park.

onlychanelno5 has contributed a photo to this story.

mferrarapelosi

at 13:04 on October 21st, 2008

This photo is taken with an adapted Rolleiflex camera (TTV) and a digital camera.

It is a beautiful beech tree in Northwest Connecticut USA.

mferrarapelosi has contributed a photo to this story.

daveemerson

at 14:39 on October 21st, 2008

My photo is of a cool gnarly beech tree in Morgan Monroe State Forest in Indiana. The coolest part about it is that the broken off limb has the appearance of a snarling bear. This tree guards a "haunted" cemetery.

In the U.S., our forests have been largely reclaimed, in places like our state and national forests, from the decimation of the early settlers who used nearly all our old growth forests for building materials and firewood.

mschickhofer

at 22:38 on October 21st, 2008

Ancient woods dissappearing almost everywhere... In Austria less than one percent of the country's forests are considered to be of natural shape. And the dominating spruce monocultures increasingly are facing stress caused by climatic change. So forestry in Austria - as well as in large parts of central Europe - is running into rapidly growing problems.

This image is taken from a small protected natural wood hosting impressive ancient beech and oak trees which is situated close to Vienna. Hundreds of walkers and joggers pass by every day, rarely see the beauty just a few metres uphill.

mschickhofer has contributed a photo to this story.

Eustaquio Santimano

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 22:42 on October 21st, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

The Woodland Trust

at 01:02 on October 22nd, 2008

Ancient woodland is a most precious resource. Once it's lost it is lost forever.

WoodWatch is an exciting new Woodland Trust campaign to enable and empower local communities to take effective action and save ancient woods. To find out more please visit the website or join us on Facebook.

The Woodland Trust has contributed a photo to this story.

Ravi Dixit

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 00:37 on October 22nd, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Lazylizards

at 04:29 on October 22nd, 2008

Despite using so much wood, I'm happy this beech forest in northern Honshu, Japan, is preserved. It's a beautiful place!

Lazylizards has contributed a photo to this story.

Aitor S

at 08:21 on October 22nd, 2008

We must preserve our forests. Good stuff.

Aitor S has contributed a photo to this story.

Marie Fykse

at 12:55 on October 22nd, 2008

Marie Fykse has contributed a photo to this story.

newmoonvirgin

at 10:18 on October 23rd, 2008

The thing that annoys me most about all this is that the authorities say it's progress and we need more houses, jobs etc.
Yet the houses they do build end up being so expensive that only well off people can buy them and new roads don't actually ease traffic problems, they make them worse. There are loads of places in towns and cities that are derelict, and buildings that are empty and could be made into reasonable priced flats for people.
This isn't about progress, it's about making money for developers and councils.
A varied environment is a healthy environment. If we destroy more and more of it we will suffer. There are ways of living with environment with the minimum of damage. Councils etc should be actively encouraging people to do so.

newmoonvirgin has contributed a photo to this story.

IAMVERSCHUUR (not verified)

at 13:29 on November 15th, 2008

two mile coppice woods in weymouth is messed up, in the day this place may look ok but at night....completely different story. Witchcraft, Suicides with ropes me and my friends have seen, heard and felt exactly what lies in this cursed forest... all im saying is stay away from there if you value your lives.