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.