Woodland Trust plans to bring woodland back to life thanks to £1.9m HLF grant

£2.9m project to restore damaged ancient woodland across the UK secures HLF funding.

The Woodland Trust has received the green light from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a UK-wide project which could see the restoration of 52,000 hectares of damaged ancient woodland, one of the country’s rarest and most precious habitats and home to 2561 rare or threatened species of wildlife.

The five year project, active on the ground in 2014, could see the restoration of an area of woodland one third the size of London across 10 priority areas (including Exmoor and West Devon) throughout the country. The Trust plans to work with over 1,000 landowners, offering information, advice and training to help them restore conifer woods to their natural broadleaved state.

Tim Hodges, Woodland Restoration Programme manager, said: “The key to the project is the urgency. Many conifer plantations which have been planted since the Second World War are approaching maturity and due to be felled.

“By working with landowners now to begin restoring these woods there is a once in a lifetime opportunity to prevent these woods being re-stocked with a further round of conifers which could compound the damage already done to the wildlife that remains. We have a responsibility to restore our ancient woods and protect them for future generations.”

Ancient woodland restoration involves the gradual removal of conifers from a plantation, to allow a greater amount of light to penetrate the woodland canopy, encouraging specialist ancient woodland species to recover and reverse years of damage. Ancient woodland covers only 2% of the UK’s landmass and links back to the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago.

Vanessa Harbar, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund East Midlands, added: “Our ancient woodlands are at risk of being lost forever which is why this innovative project to change the way they are maintained is so important. The Heritage Lottery Fund is pleased to be supporting The Woodland Trust and we look forward to seeing their restoration plans help bring some of our most treasured ancient woods back to life.”

The total project cost is £2.9 million, with £1.9 million being funded directly by the HLF. The Trust is appealing for public donations to make up a £530,000 funding gap, with the remaining support coming from partner organisations. A number of public volunteering opportunities will also be available during the course of the project.

Anyone wishing to donate can do so online at woodlandtrust.org.uk/restorationappeal.