Why Protecting UK Ancient Woodlands Matters: Threats, Conservation, and How You Can Help (UK Youth 4 Nature Article)

The brilliant Frankie and Emily, both UK Youth for Nature volunteers, are passionate about the conservation of ancient woodlands. This blog was originally posted on https://uky4n.org/2024/09/03/why-protecting-uk-ancient-woodlands-matters-threats-conservation-and-how-you-can-help/, thank you to the team for allowing us to crosspost the content.

In this blog, Frankie discusses her attendance at an ancient woodlands event, and Emily, who is also an Ancient Woodlands UK ambassador, goes into more detail about what threatens ancient woodlands, why they need protecting and how you can help. We hope you enjoy this exploration of one of the UK’s most precious and endangered ecosystems.

Ancient Woodlands Event

By Francesca Reed-Cutting

I recently had the privilege of attending a stakeholder workshop in London with Ancient Woodlands UK (AWUK), representing the voice of UKY4N.

AWUK did a fantastic job bringing together a variety of stakeholders, including academics, government agencies (Forestry England), charities (Woodland Trust), lawyers (Lawyers for Nature) and more, to explore:

1. How and why is it still legal to destroy ancient woodlands, despite them being classified as an “irreplaceable habitat” by the UK government?

2. How can we bring absolute legal protection to ancient woodland, with the aim of prohibiting destruction for the purposes of infrastructure development?

AWUK set the tone for the day’s discussions with their moving documentary, ‘Saving Oaken Wood’. This detailed the planned expansion of a quarry in Maidstone that would lead to the destruction of ancient woodland cherished by the local community. 

To ensure all stakeholders felt confident in addressing the two key questions, AWUK provided a concise run through of the current legislative landscape and the key threats facing ancient woodland. My key takeaway was that vague wording in law and policy allows Ancient Woodlands to be lawfully destroyed under “wholly exceptional circumstances” or “where public value outweighs the harm”. But who determines these circumstances? When ancient forests are critical for combating climate change, storing almost double the carbon compared with new growth forests, how does the law justify that there could ever be ‘public value’ in their continued destruction? And how does one measure ‘public value’?

The roundtable discussion aimed to debate these questions and direct Ancient Woodlands UK to relevant resources and case studies that could guide how the UK’s loopholes could be challenged and overcome. 

Ancient woodlands – what they are and why they must be protected

By Emily Napier

Ancient Woodlands are sacred habitats that not only house thousands of different species but have also grown and adapted to native species over hundreds of years. They are also cultural and socially significant, holding history, heritage and archeology within.

Our remaining ancient woodlands only cover 2.5% of the UK, making them incredibly rare.

Shockingly, ancient woodlands don’t have automatic rights of protection in the UK, making them unprotected from destruction. This oversight was dramatically highlighted in 2020 when the phase 1 section of the HS2 route from London to Birmingham destroyed ancient woods and veteran trees, with 55 ancient woods impacted. 

What are ancient woodlands?

When I first started to look into ancient woodlands I was trying to understand how to differentiate them from other woodlands or areas with trees. The key criterion they all share is their continuous existence since the 1600s in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and since 1750 in Scotland.

Ancient woodlands are extremely unique, in that “they are relatively undisturbed by human development. As a result, they are unique and complex communities of plants, fungi, lichens, insects and other microorganisms.” Species found in these areas are often uncommon or absent in recently planted woodlands.

The most recognisable ancient woodland species are the vascular plants that grow in the understory. Plants that are often seen include bluebells and wood anemones, as well as rarer species such as yellow archangel and lily-of-the-valley. I have shared some images below to show you the amazing species that exist and so that you can identify an ancient woodland.

Ancient woodlands can be classified into different categories:

• Ancient semi-natural woods: woods that have developed naturally. Most have been used by humans – often managed for timber and other industries over the centuries. They have had woodland cover for over 400 years.

• Plantations on ancient woodland sites: ancient woods that have been felled and replanted with non-native species. Although damaged, they all still have the complex soil of ancient woodland, retaining soil communities and networks that secondary woodland creation does not have.

  
  

Why are ancient woodlands important?

Ancient woodlands are important numerous economic, social, environmental and cultural reasons.

Ancient woodlands have been mostly undisturbed, so they are home to rare and threatened species of plants, fungi, insects, and other microorganisms. Ancient woodlands are a unique and valuable part of our environment; many plant and animal species found here cannot be found elsewhere. The presence of certain species of plants, insects, lichens, and molluscs can indicate that a site has been continuously wooded for a long period of time as they are only present in undisturbed habitat.

Ancient woodlands are home to an abundance of lichen species. These strange organisms are neither plant or animal, and are completely unique. While most people may think lichens are a type of moss, they are actually a combination of an algae and a fungus. They serve as a food source and habitat for many animals such as deer, birds, and rodents, provide nesting materials for birds, and protect trees and rocks from rain, wind, and snow. They also absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and therefore play a key role in climate change mitigation.

When I went on walks with my family as a child I would always see these things on trees and never understood what they were. Now I know that they are and am aware if their their importance for the environment and ancient woodland ecosystems, I want to share my knowledge so other people are aware of how amazing they are!

Threats to ancient woodlands

There are many threats to ancient woodlands and our current legislation does not provide enough protection to prevent them from being harmed or destroyed. Other areas have much higher levels of protection, such as the Scheduled Ancient Monument status, which important archaeological sites have.

There are many reasons why ancient woodlands are disappearing from the UK, including

• Large scale infrastructure projects

• Land management

• Invasive species and disease

• Poor management and grazing

• Climate change

All of these factors mean that we are at risk of losing even more of our ancient woodlands and, subsequently, the species that rely on them.

Ways you can help

Joining Ancient Woodlands UK as a volunteer has given me the opportunity to support the fight to protect these precious ecosystems. This campaign was set up to bring absolute legal protection to ancient woodlands, and prohibit destruction for infrastructure development. It was originally funded by the Ignite Innovation Fund from the Woodland Trust.

The campaign is youth-led, and our main focus is to raise the profile of ancient woodlands using social media. We want to continue to educate and spread awareness to as many people as possible, building to get other people involved – you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok. The account is full of ancient woodland appreciation posts, so you can learn how to recognise them for yourself!

We are working with Lawyers for Nature on new policy and legislation asks, and are looking for funding and ambassadors. If you can support the campaign in any way, please get in touch via social media or our website. We’ve also got a live petition calling for the government to give ancient woodlands absolute protection, which will prevent any further destruction. Please sign it to support our mission!

Other ways to help

• If you have a local woodland that is under threat, contact the Woodland Trust for support and advice.

• Share your newfound knowledge about ancient woodlands and the threats they are under in the UK

• Educate yourself on invasive species and volunteer for groups assisting in their removal

  
  

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, check out the other articles that have been contributed by members of the UK Youth 4 Nature's 16-35 year old community.