Woodland Management
One of the first contracts I took on as
Sussex Butterfly & Wildlife Habitats was the grant-assisted improvement of a private wood near Pulborough. I've previously worked with the owner to develop a large area of naturally regenerating woodland, following the removal of a block of non-native conifer. This has already created some fantastic habitat with an open structure of scrub and young trees, much loved by Cuckoos and Nightingales in the spring. Dingy and Grizzled Skippers have already set up home here.
Over the winter I have been working to restructure a more mature block of mixed woodland which is contiguous with the first area, providing a rare mosaic of very different wooded habitats. This more mature area already supports Purple Emperor, White Admiral and Silver-washed Fritillary, but lacked much in the way of sunny open spaces. The rides were quite narrow and shady and the woodland itself was in urgent need of management.
Contractors had been employed to perform some thinning work over the previous winter, but this was done in the traditional manner, which involves the removal of a proportion of the trees from a compartment to a quite regular and even pattern, designed to improve both the growth rate and form of the remaining stock. However, it is a common misconception that the process is hugely beneficial to wildlife. The increase in light levels will trigger an improvement in the ground flora, but this will be short-lived, as the canopy soon starts to close again. More importantly, it does not create the larger areas of sunny habitat, nor the vital connections between them, that butterflies and many other invertebrates require.
What's more, the owners are keen to see their wood improved specifically to benefit wildlife, rather than produce a commercial crop. Given that a high proportion of the wood comprises Silver Birch, which has limited value as timber, there is little point in assisting this species to simply grow more rapidly!
In the areas I've worked on, I've taken a different approach, which involves some more traditional thinning, but focuses far more on creating joined-up open spaces. This work has included ride widening, the opening of box-junctions, the creation of glades and scallops, and the 'haloing' of the better oaks, to allow their canopies to benefit from unhindered sunshine and space. Brash left around their bases will provide fertiliser long into the future. I've also left plenty of sallows to grow on, which have traditionally been seen as woodland 'weeds' and removed by many foresters; no guesses as to why!
I'll be back here to continue the work next winter, but the wood has already changed out of all recognition. I can't wait to return in the summer months.
