Why do woodlands need ‘management’?

If we asked you to imagine a healthy woodland, would you conjure a picture of a wild place left to nature, teeming with wildlife and plants, with a wide variety of trees?  If you love a woods near you for its richness of species, then the chances are that it’s human intervention that’s enabling it to thrive.

Chris Keeler, our woodland management trainer, is a fourth-generation forester, who grew up in the sweet chestnut coppice woods of Kent. Unsurprisingly, he knows rather a lot about how to look after woods, and in this blog he answers the question that the Lost Woods team are asked regularly: ‘Do woodlands need management, shouldn’t we just let nature take over?’

To that question, my answer is always – yes – they absolutely need managing!

It may sound counterintuitive that wild spaces, including ancient woodlands which have existed for centuries, need intervention or ‘management’, but the sad fact is that there are no truly wild woodlands left in the UK.

Once (as in millennia ago!), natural processes allowed woodlands to maintain an essential balance. A woodland was a biome made up of many thousands of small interactions that created one large, self-regulating ecosystem. These natural processes kept the woodland healthy, for example:

• There were open areas in woodlands that were created and maintained by large herbivores (cattle, ponies, bison, etc). The areas where there was no tree canopy provided habitat for flora and fauna that relied on the increased light and warmth on the woodland floor.
• Water levels were regulated by beavers in woodland streams and brooks to create wet woodland – a specialist ecosystem that supports a huge number of species (now sadly uncommon)
• There was a diverse woodland structure where blocks of trees were of different ages and varieties, unlike the plantation woodlands we see a lot of today
• Decomposition is essential for life. Dead and decaying wood supports a huge range of insects, fungi, mosses and lichens. Humans tend to want to make woodlands tidy and remove these habitats because they like things looking neat!

But this balance was thrown off by the pressures that human development placed on these natural processes. And this pressure has only rapidly increased since the Industrial Revolution. We have changed our landscape through agriculture, development, and transportation, and this has led to a huge reduction in both the size and number of woodlands.

Furthermore, non-native species have been introduced to woodlands, invasive species, pests and diseases are on the rise, and the effects of climate change is dramatically altering the natural processes which once allowed a woodland to manage itself.

We now need to intervene through woodland management techniques that mimic natural processes, so that woodlands have the greatest chance possible of being both biodiversity-rich havens for wildlife, and also places for people to enjoy and work in.  

What is woodland management, what does it mean?

Woodland management is designed to mimic the processes that used to occur naturally in our woodlands. These include:

• Tree felling to thin out areas where trees are competing. Humans have prioritised timber production over the needs of the woodland, so there is no natural balance of species. Thinning to let more light in, or ‘halo’ thinning around prominent trees (such as oak trees), is an effective way to boost conditions for the less dominant species.

• Coppicing , a centuries old process which takes advantage of the trees' natural inclination to regrow from dormant buds. Coppicing creates a patchwork of light and shade where ‘stools’ (coppice trees) are cut on a rotation. Generally, an area of coppice trees (known as a coupe or cant) are cut at the same time to allow as much light as possible into the woodland. This allows for more beneficial light levels to the stools, which helps with regrowth. The forest floor, where dormant seeds will grow, will also be triggered by this additional light, which attracts insects and birds to the area.

• Creating open areas which are vital for insects like butterflies and moths. Have you ever seen a butterfly flying through a dense woodland, far away from the sunlight? Its not very common. Open areas must be managed, because trees naturally encroach into them and in the absence of large herbivores, it’s up to us to make sure that they don’t get overgrown

• Allowing for dead wood is vital, second only to the soil in terms of importance to the woodland ecology. Insects, fungi, mosses, and lichens all rely on dead wood to complete their life cycles – just turn over an old log in your garden and see how many creatures are underneath it. It’s not just dead wood on the ground – dead trees are a fabulous resource for all manner of beasts, from nesting holes for owls and woodpeckers to the thousands of insects that live in a standing dead tree.

• Planting new trees, which can be as simple as fencing off an area and seeing what trees grow from the seeds already in the soil, or collecting acorns to scatter on your next walk. You can of course buy new trees and plant them, but whatever method you choose, it is vital to consider the species. Will they grow well on your soil type, are they resistant to any diseases in the area such as ash dieback, are they able to adapt and survive climate change? You will also have to think about protecting newly planted trees from deer which are more prevalent in the UK than ever before and can destroy swathes of young trees.  The trees you choose should also complement your existing woodland, preferably ones that already grow there.

These management techniques will create a varied structure in the woodland – light and shade, wet areas and dry – that can support a far larger number of species. This improves biodiversity and helps the woodland to flourish, becoming balanced and sustainable once again.

There are economic benefits too

A managed woodland will yield products that can be sold by woodland workers and owners. For example, firewood and coppice products such as fencing, charcoal, and garden products. This income allows coppice workers and foresters to continue managing woodlands sustainably, as they have been for many centuries.

Managing woodlands in the Low Weald and Downs

The ancient woodlands in the Lost Woods project areas are in dire need of attention, due to fragmentation, lack of management and the pressures of the large surrounding population. The management activities we’ve talked about can really help to make a difference, so why not learn more about them on one of our subsidised training courses.

For more information about managing small woodlands, visit our project partner the Small Woods Association's website.