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Country & Coast: An ancient mystery – and a modern threat to our woodlands
Ancient woods are some of our most precious conservation sites but a popular misconception among public and professionals is that we know where they are. We don't!
Furthermore, it is presumed that we know exactly how to identify sites and so all or at least most of these wonderful conservation areas are on "official lists" somewhere. There are lists held by Natural England, called the Ancient Woodland Inventory, and every county should have one. In fact, Yorkshire has several. So much for the theory but what about the practice; most inventories were based on 1970s and 1980s research and involved educated guesswork by experts armed with First Edition Ordnance Survey Maps (dating to 1830-1840). Teams of professionals and volunteers scoured the ground for old woods and sought out local experts
to help.
But it was only with the 2007 publication of the Woodland Heritage Manual that a nationally-accepted approach was agreed and available to assess the unique heritage of wooded landscapes. The approach, developed with woodland volunteer groups across England and especially in Yorkshire now leads the way.
This is important because, believe it or not, the Ancient Woodland Inventories are being challenged by unscrupulous developers. The Government's planning guidance actually protects your local wood if you can prove it is "ancient". So anyone wanting to remove your wood and perhaps build houses or a shopping centre has to prove or at least suggest it isn't really "ancient". It seems that planners expect your local wildlife group or perhaps the Woodland Trust to be able to prove the site is an ancient wood. This is really the wrong way round as the onus ought to be on developers to prove woodland is not ancient. Many planning officers simply don't have the time, skill or experience to decide and may not have access to adequate professional support in-house. Perhaps a few appeals to local government ombudsmen would sharpen the need for properly informed delivery of key services and adequate training of planning and tree or woodland expert advisors?
In the meantime we are working with the Woodland Trust to develop new and robust methods for woodland assessment. Let me know what you think.
Dr Ian D. Rotherham, writer and broadcaster, directs the Tourism and Environmental Change Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University and can be contacted on ianonthe wildside@ukeconet.co.uk
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Friday 25 May 2012
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