Types of Woodland in the United Kingdom
Most people think that woodland is merely a smaller or larger area covered with trees. However, there are several types of woodlands as well as trees in the United Kingdom. They all play the key role in the increase of the country’s wooden areas due to increased demand for timber which exceeds the supply as well as to preserve the native ecosystem and reduce the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In addition, forested landscape in the United Kingdom is far below the European average. While most European countries have over 40% of wooded areas, woodland and forests cover about 10% of total landscape in the United Kingdom.
Like in other parts of the world, woodland in the United Kingdom was declining due to clearing of the woods for agriculture and increasing demand for timber. At the end of World War II, the woodland in the county has dropped to about 5%. Wooded areas have been increasing over the last 50 years reaching about 10% by the turn of the millennium which is encouraging but inadequate. Very concerning is also the slowed rate of reforestation since the end of the 20th century.
There are three main types of woodland in the United Kingdom known as ancient woodland, native woodland and recent woodland. Ancient woodland refers to areas that have been continuously wooded since 1600 AD or longer. From about 1600 AD, planting trees in the country became more common which is why most of the woods that existed before year 1600 AD are believed to grow up on their own. Even more, some ancient woods are believed to be the remnants of the original wild woods that grew in the United Kingdom as much as 10,000 years ago.
Ancient woodland is of the greatest importance for the country because it provides the best habitat for wild animal and plant species which is why it is the priority when it comes to woodland heritage preservation and protection. Ancient woodland covers 2% of the country’s total landscape only, while the majority of ancient woodland is fragmented due to the fact that many ancient woods have been replaced by fast-growing conifers to provide timber to the industry. About 80% of all ancient woodlands are smaller than 20 hectares but the damage that has been done by planting conifer trees is not irreversible. In fact, many conifer trees that have been planted by the 1980’s are now mature and may be replaced by native trees.
Native woodland refers to wood that predominantly consists of native trees – those that have grown in the country naturally and were not introduced by humans. Most native woodland in the United Kingdom are broadleaved though in Scotland are also found native pinewoods. Native woodland represent approximately 40% of all woodland in the United Kingdom which means that over 50% of wooded areas in the country is covered by the so-called recent woodland.
Recent woodland refers to type of woods that are either planted or grown naturally, for example on abandoned agricultural areas. Although their name suggests, that they have occurred in recent decades some of them are older than two or even three centuries. However, many have been also planted in the recent years. Recent wood may consist of native trees but it can also include of non-native trees, most often fast-growing conifer trees.
Sometimes is also used the term secondary woodland which refers to woods that are not ancient woodland although in some cases, they may be ancient as well. In contrary to ancient woods which may be even remnants of original wild wood and grew up naturally on their own (therefore primary woods) after the Ice Age, secondary woods appeared either naturally or artificially. The best example woods featuring evidence of Roman settlement which reveals that they are secondary because they have grown on land that was at certain point used for other purposes yet ancient at the same time because they have appeared before 1600 AD.
Both secondary and recent woodland are just as important as ancient woods although these are the priority due to their rarity. However, secondary and recent woods are an important habitat for wildlife as well and have a large number of benefits for human and the environment.