The Woodland Habitat Action Plan

Below is a summary of the Woodland Habitat Action Plan (HAP). For the full version, including full supporting text and the table of targets and actions set for Woodland in Wiltshire, click here (490kb).

The Woodland HAP encompasses all woodland within the county – ancient and recent semi-natural woodland, and plantations of both conifer and broad-leaved species. However some parts of the Plan focus on ancient woodlands, since these are generally the richest in wildlife and once destroyed cannot be recreated.

Some definitions…

Ancient Woodland has had a continuous history of cover since at least 1600 AD with clearing being restricted to underwood or timber production only, i.e. no complete clearance of the site since 1600 (Goldberg, E. and Kirkby, K. (2002) Ancient Woodland: Guidance Material for Local Authorities. Natural England Publication number AWG1).

Recent Secondary Woodland is described as that which does not have a history of continuous cover from at least 1600 and which has since that time developed “naturally” or has been planted on formerly non-wooded land.

Semi-natural Woodland are those stands and types which do not obviously originate from planting but which exist as ecologically distinct assemblages determined by soil, climate and other biological influences.

Replanted Woodland may be defined as all replanted broadleaved, mixed or coniferous woodland. This includes plantations of species not native to Wiltshire and native species planted so densely that the site’s semi-natural characteristics are suppressed.

Woodland in Wiltshire

The National Inventory of Woodland and Trees (Forestry Commission, 2002) estimates that the total area of woodland in Wiltshire in blocks of over 2ha amounts to 26,624ha. The following woodland sites in Wiltshire have SSSI status:

Savernake Forest – one of the largest woods in Wiltshire, contains outstanding lichen flora and a wide variety of other plants including species with nationally restricted distributions.

Cranbourne Chase – derives from an ancient hunting forest. It has some of the best examples of extensive coppice woodland in the country and a coppice regime which is centuries old.

Langley Wood – has a very large range of woodland stand-types which reflects variation in soils and drainage. This has produced an exceptionally rich and varied woodland both structurally and botanically.

Other important woodland sites include Bentley Wood SSSI (which has an exceptional butterfly assemblage) Grovely Wood, Great Wood, Longleat and Stourhead.

Species associated with woodlands

Woodlands, particularly ancient woodlands, can contain a rich diversity of species including vascular plants, lichens, mosses, liverworts, butterflies, moths, birds and mammals. Woodlands are also important for bats, as they provide shelter and cover and a wide diversity of insect food. Dead trees are often valuable in providing roost sites for bats.

However, woodland bird species are declining - Lesser Spotted Woodpecker numbers decreased by 81%, Spotted Flycatcher, 71%, Nightingale, 63%, and Woodcock, 74%, between 1980-2005 (Common Birds Census).

The Wiltshire BAP Woodland HAP contains separate actions for Willow Tit and Nightjar, as well as the Dormouse.

Progress and changes since 2002:

New Woodland: between 2002-2005 the Great Western Community Forest, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and the Forestry Commission planted 101 ha of new woodland in Braydon Forest. This was part of the Forestry Commission’s ‘Jigsaw Project’ to expand and link up areas of semi-natural woodland.

Dormice: since 2002, the Wiltshire Mammal Group has continued to monitor Dormice nest boxes in different locations across the county and identified new sites for future boxes. On Salisbury Plain the Imber Conservation Group, Aspire Defence and the Defence Estates Environmental Support Team have worked together to set up Dormice nest boxes for monitoring.

Firecrest: in 2007 16 breeding pairs of Firecrest were recorded at Center Parcs at Longleat. Approximately 50% of the UK population of Firecrest are found in SW England and it is possible that Longleat holds over 25% of the total UK breeding population.

Planning and Policy Statement 9 (PPS9) now requires local planning authorities to have regard to areas of ancient woodland when granting planning permission.

In 2007 Defra published “A Strategy for England’s Trees, Woods and Forests”. It can be downloaded from www.defra.gov.uk

Taking the new Woodland HAP forwards

A combined working group has been set up to progress three related Habitat Action Plans. Ian Briscoe of the Forestry Commission will lead on the Woodland and Wood-pasture Plans, and Roger Griffin from Natural England will lead on Hedgerows. If you would like to be involved in the working group, send us an email using the email box below.