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Our
woodlands include areas derived from the natural woodland that developed after
the ice age finished retreating around 10,000 years ago, as well as more recent
self-seeded broadleaved woodland and plantations of broadleaves, mixed and/or
coniferous trees. The natural or ancient woodlands that haven't been cleared for
agriculture, housing or industry tend to have been left on the steeper slopes
of the river valleys such as the Ribble and Lune. Some plants are only found in
certain habitat types and are called "Indicators". Indicators of ancient woodland
include moschatel, wood anemone, herb-Paris, sweet woodruff, wood speedwell and
a number of grasses, ferns and wood-rushes. Natural
woodlands have four layers: the canopy of mature trees, an understorey of shrubs,
the wildflowers or field layer and the mosses and liverworts known as the ground
layer and all are important. Whilst we have very little natural woodland in the
UK, this is more common in Eastern Europe and up to 50% of the timber can be dead
or decaying. Dead wood is invaluable for fungi, invertebrates and the animals
that depend upon them. In
our area the natural canopy would be dominated by oak and birch but the 1999 Inventory
of Woods and Trees found that the commonest species in the northwest were Sitka
spruce, oak, birch, Scot's pine and sycamore. Lancashire has 4.6% woodland cover
compared to 3.8% for Merseyside and 3.7% for Manchester. This compares with 6.8%
for North West England, 11.6% for Great Britain and 46% for Europe. Most of our
woods are small and relatively isolated. The largest woodland in Lancashire is
Gisburn Forest, next to Stocks Reservoir in the Ribble Valley. Some
of the best woodlands have been designated by English Nature as Sites of Special
Scientific Interest and include the following: *Burton
Wood, north of Caton
Calf Hill and Cragg Woods south of Caton
Cringlebarrow
and Deepdale Woods north of Warton
Eaves Wood, Silverdale
Gait Barrows
National Nature Reserve southeast of Arnside
Gail Clough and Shooterslee Wood
near Bolton
*Longworth Clough, north of Bolton
*Red Scar and Tunbrook
Woods, Preston to Grimsargh
Roeburndale Woods near Wray, Lancaster *
= includes a Wildlife Trust nature reserve Whilst
woodlands are best known for the trees and wildflowers they also support an impressive
range of other species including mosses and liverworts, fungi, birds, mammals,
butterflies and many other invertebrate species. Woodland
management requires a long-term vision. In the past centuries most woods were
selectively thinned and/or coppiced. The larger trees were made into structural
beams for houses as well as ships, furniture etc., whereas the coppiced stems
were used for fences, gates and hurdles, pit props in mines, interior walls in
buildings (wattle and daub), pea, bean and hop poles etc. During the First World
War the majority of timber was cut down and in 1919 the Forestry Commission was
established to try to prevent us running out of timber. This put the emphasis
on planting more woodland and blocks of conifers were preferred due to their speed
of growth and higher productivity. These even-aged stands are then easier to manage
by clear-felling and replanting but there was criticism of the lack of regard
to wildlife and the landscape. The England Forest Strategy now strikes a balance
between the economy, recreation and the environment. Many
woods are grazed by wild animals such as rabbits and deer and a light degree of
grazing can be beneficial. However, if woodlands are heavily grazed by livestock
this can prevent natural regeneration and change the plant composition from woodland
flowers towards more and more grass. Other changes are also occurring in our woodlands
including the spread of Himalayan balsam, tree diseases killing species including
horse chestnut, alder and poplars. In the 1980's many of our elm trees were killed
by Dutch Elm Disease. If
you have a woodland or are interested in creating one you may be able to get a
grant from the Forestry Commission (see www.forestry.gov.uk) and additional help
may also be available from the woodland projects in the area, i.e. ELWOOD (East
Lancashire), Lancashire Woodlands Project, Mersey Forest and Red Rose Forest. If
you have a garden why not create your own mini woodland at home by planting a
few trees and shrubs with a range of native woodland plants underneath together
with a pile of logs. | 
