Sharing Woodland Restoration Expertise

Assessment Training for Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites

Over two autumnal days in November, the Woodland Trust hosted two training sessions on key techniques for the assessment and management of Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS). Dartmoor’s Fingle Woods is a good example of a PAWS restoration site and woodland managers and conservation advisers from across the southwest took the opportunity to meet at the Fingle Bridge Inn for the training sessions.

A lively discussion took place at each woodland compartment. The trainees started by identifying and describing the general tree cover. They looked for linear features, water courses, ancient boundaries and tracks. Was there any dead wood? Decaying material is an important feature in a healthy woodland. It is often where life begins. Looking on the ground, what was the vegetation cover like? In some stands of dense conifer, the light levels are so low that next to nothing grows and this puts ancient woodland soil at serious risk of erosion. After a few hours, many differing opinions were being discussed but, in general, a consensus was being reached about how to target the most urgent areas of habitat for first aid and how to make a longer-term plan for sustainable management of the site.Over two days of training, 36 people attended from Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. Many were countryside rangers and landscape management advisers from a range of organisations including the Forestry Commission, FWAG, National Trust, the Wildlife Trusts and other conservation bodies such as Westcountry Rivers Trust, Bumblebee Conservation and the Avon Valley Project.On the way back to the Fingle Bridge Inn the participants chatted about what they had learned and how they could apply it in their varied fields of work. One farm adviser said, “it will be a useful method to help farmers and land owners, but they will need to be trained to do the assessments. It’s a simple enough method though.”Other site managers and rangers could see how the technique could be used on their sites. Though the soil type and habitats would differ, “it’s a quick and easy method to record the landscape and prioritise your plans”. Another pointed out that, “there isn’t a right or a wrong way – it depends on what you want to do with your woods. You need to provide the most appropriate solution you can.”Back at the pub Dave finished off the day saying “with PAWS restoration, the urgency is to make a start. Once light is coming into your woods, there is no rush to finish. It will take time.” And that is the essence of PAWS restoration; by following the assessment guidelines, a site manager will be able to make long term plans in the best interest of their woods and the owner’s priorities. by Matt Parkins