Wiltshire trees, forests and woodlands

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Woodlands, small groups of trees and individual trees are a vital component of the Wiltshire landscape, providing visual beauty, habitats for important species, cover for game, an income for woodland owners and managers, sustainable timber, and a valuable recreational resource. The sustainable management of broadleaved, coniferous and mixed woodlands (Forestry) is an important sector of Wiltshire's rural economy.

Forestry in Wiltshire

The Forestry Commission is the government department responsible for forestry policy throughout Great Britain.

The mission of the Forestry Commission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment, with the objective of developing and promoting sustainable forest management and supporting its achievement nationally.

The Forestry Commission:

• Provides grant assistance for woodland creation management through its English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS)
• Issues licenses for tree felling
• Maintains a register of new planting and felling (the register also includes information about Forest District’s (formally Forest Enterprise) Forest Design Plans for the work they intend to carry out in Forestry Commission Woodlands.

Wiltshire Council is consulted by the Forestry Commission on all Woodland Grant Scheme and Felling Licence applications in Wiltshire, and on new woodland planting proposals. The Council is consulted along with a wide range of stakeholders by Forest District when reviewing their Forest Design Plans.

For more information contact the Forestry Commission.

Woodland in Wiltshire

(Abridged version from the Wiltshire Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP)

Introduction

Woodland was once the natural vegetation cover over most of the UK and is our richest wildlife habitat, supporting many hundreds of species of invertebrates, fungi, bryophytes, flowering plants and birds. Local geology, land form and environmental conditions give rise to distinct sub-types (communities), each with a characteristic flora. Oak and ash/field maple woodlands are found throughout the county with beech and yew restricted to the chalk and limestone areas, while alder woodlands are characteristic of the wetter parts of the Wessex Vales.

Many of Wiltshire’s woodlands have traditionally been managed as coppice with standards, with a few areas left to high forest managed as wood-pasture (e.g. Savernake, Great Ridge, Stourhead). Evidence of past management is often reflected in woodland features such as coppice stools, pollards and wood embankments.

Ancient woodland sites are defined as those which have been continuously wooded since at least 1600 (Wiltshire Inventory of Ancient Woodland Provisional 1987). Some sites have been replanted, either with conifers or broadleaves, and are termed ‘ancient replanted woodland’ (ARW) whilst those which retain a cover or mixed broadleaves are ‘ancient semi-natural woodland’ (ASNW). Collectively they are referred to as ‘ancient woodland sites’ (AWS).

Importance

Important woodland sites in Wiltshire include Langley Wood National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Bentley Wood SSSI which has an exceptional butterfly assemblage, Cranborne Chase with extensive areas or working coppice, Savernake Forest and Longleat Woods.

Key sites - Savernake and Chute Forest, Bentley Wood, Langley Wood, Great Ridge, Grovely Wood, Cranborne Chase, Maiden Bradley, Longleat, Stourhead, Braydon Forest. 1,350ha of woodland is designated as SSSI and 11,795ha identified as County Wildlife Sites (CWS).

Extent and Distribution

The Forestry Commission’s 2002 National Inventory of Woodland and Trees estimated the total area of woodland (of 0.1 hectares and over) in Wiltshire as 27,325 hectares, covering around 7.9% of Wiltshire’s land area. Of this nearly 13,000 hectares (approximately 52%) is estimated by English Nature’s Wiltshire Inventory of Ancient Woodland as being ancient woodland (excluding woodlands under 2 hectares). Of this ancient woodland, 45% is recorded as semi-natural with the remaining 55% having been replanted. The remaining 48% of woodland in Wiltshire comprises secondary woodland, either planted or naturally regenerated, or ancient woodland blocks less that 2 hectares in size.

Woodland occurs throughout the county, though its distribution, abundance and type is closely related to the underlying geology. Distribution is uneven with areas such as Salisbury Plain and the northern parts of the Berkshire and Marlborough Downs Natural Area within Wiltshire having virtually none, whilst other areas such as Longleat/Maiden Bradley area and Clarendon/Bentley area having large tracts. Likely reasons for the survival of ancient woodland sites include historic enclosure for parks and deer parks or the unsuitability of the land for agriculture, either because of steep gradients or heavy soils.

Trends

Evidence from the Domesday Book suggests that the basic features of the Wiltshire landscape and woodland distribution were already established 1,000 years ago. It is likely that the general pattern of woodland cover remained relatively stable until the early 1900’s. Some plantations date from the latter half of the 18th century and more extensive planting occurred in the 20th century. Most of the conservation of Ancient Semi Natural Woodland to plantation dates from the 1950s and 1960s encouraged by government policies. Wiltshire appears to mirror the national trend in woodland cover, which fell as low as 6% after the First World War but increased more recently to 8.4%.

Many species of woodland butterfly and bird have undergone steep declines in recent decades, mainly due to the cessation of coppicing and active management of woodlands. Particularly badly affected have been populations of the pearl-bordered and small pearl-bordered fritillaries, nightingales and woodland warblers.

Management of woodlands for sporting activities and amenity is an important objective on many woodland estates and farms in Wiltshire, whereas timber production is typically important on the larger estates.

Key species

• Dormouse
• Bats (barbastelle, bechstein’s, lesser horseshoe)
• Nightingale
• Song thrush
• Pearl-bordered fritillary
• Small pearl-bordered fritillary
• Broad bordered moth
• Bee-hawk moth
• Stag beetle
• Decaying wood invertebrates
• Beefly (bombylius discolor)
• Meadow saffron
• Bath asparagus
• Devil’s bolete
• Fungus
• Lichens
• Mosses and liverworts

Last updated: 6 October 2011