Bovey Valley Woods, Somerset
Coppicing has been practised in England for thousands of years. In that time, wildlife that thrives in open woodland has flourished, creating biodiversity-rich woods where coppicing occurs.
However, coppicing has not been widely practiced for many
decades, meaning that once-common species have declined. Large
areas of formally-coppiced woodlands dominate, with only a few
small fragments being managed for species such as dormice,
fritilliaries and bluebells.
Helping to reverse the trend is Woodland Trust. During the
autumn and winter of 2016, with valuable funding support from
Viridor Credits, the Woodland Trust undertook some carefully
planned felling work at Hilsey Wood, which removed a section of a
25m edge to the larch plantation to allow more light in to the
hazel coppice below. This is part of a gradual process to enhance
the hazel coppice, taking out the larch in small but regular
volumes, minimising the habitat impact.
To demonstrate how this gradual approach was working, the
dormice were monitored simultaneously with the timber extraction.
They were found to be using the habitat before and after this
years' work was done.
The photos show the hazel coppice and some of the cut larch
stumps. They also show where the strip of larch has been extracted
so the hazel canopy can thicken up and expand its coverage of the
site. By utilising small scale woodland contractors, the work was
successfully carried out without any noticeable damage to the
ground and shrub layer.
Issy White, Regional Development Officer at Woodland Trust,
"Without such wonderful support from Viridor Credits, vital
projects like this would not be able to happen, and habitats for
important species like dormice would be under threat of
disappearing due to the presence of the shade-casting larch."