Woodland Strategy 11.34 Mb - the Dorset AONB

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Section 3 Current Woodland & Tree Resource 20 Current Woodland and Tree Resource The charts below show the breakdown of woodland type, and compare the county woodland cover to regional and national averages. Dorset % Cover SW % Cover GB % Cover 60.00 50.00 40.00 According to the most recent (2002) National Inventory of Woodlands and Trees, carried out by the Forestry Commission, Dorset has 28,758 hectares of woodland and forest over 0.1 hectare. 28,758 hectares equates to 11% of the total county land area and 13.5% of the total woodland in the South West region. Of the total woodland cover in Dorset over a quarter, or 7,749 hectares, is believed to have been wooded since 1600AD. This is a significant percentage of Ancient Woodland and extremely important for biodiversity, culture and heritage. Within this definition of ancient woodland, 52.4% has been planted with nonnative species (known as Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites or PAWS). In addition to the ancient woodland sites there are a number of native species woodlands that have been planted or naturally regenerated over the last 150 years. The tables below show the woodland area by forest type, and the principal species found within these woodlands. 30.00 20.00 % Cover Dorset’s Woodland by Forest Type Felled 0.7% Mixed 14.6% Coppice 1.1% 10.00 Broadleaved 47.6% Open Space 5% Conifer Coppice-w- Broadleaved Coppice Mixed Windblow Open Space Felled Standards Broad Forest Types 0.00 Conifer 30.7% Coppice-w-Standards 0.3%
Section 3 Oak 13.3% Woodland Area by Principal Species (excluding coppice, felled and open areas) Beech 9.5% Sycamore 3.5% Ash 12.2% Birch 5.6% condition and biodiversity. However the county still retains a good number of important sites sixty five woodland and parkland areas included within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), although specific woodland SSSIs are under-represented in Dorset (M Heath, pers comm.) Two of these areas are designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). In addition there are 621 woodland Sites of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCIs). All comprise 6,693 hectares. In recent years more innovative silviculture practises have been adopted, such as Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) and there has been a resurgence of coppicing. Much of the ancient woodland cover is to be found on the clay and alluvial soils in the county although there are a number of scattered woodlands on chalk soils. The more recent forestry conifer plantings are predominantly on the drier, sandier soils to the southeast of the county, whilst broadleaf plantations have been established on chalk soils. 21 Mixed Conifer 0.9% Other Conifer 12.3% Larch 2.4% Elm 0.1% Other Broadleaves 8.1% Mixed Broadleaves 8.3% Between 1995 and 2005 over 2,190 hectares were planted with trees in Dorset, with over 1000 hectares being ‘new’ woodland planting, a significant increase of approximately 4% of woodland cover over the county. Pine 23.8% Dorset’s woodland cover has probably remained relatively constant since about 4,000 years ago. Few woodlands remain that are managed sustainably and these only account for a small proportion of the total resource. Very few parklands or wooded commons were managed through history, some lasting no more than decades before going into decline. Those that did survive up to the World War 2 have since been grubbed out, or neglected. The few remaining managed parklands, such as Melbury Park, Charborough Park and Stock Gaylard give an indication of how things were. Those woodlands and parklands that remain in a well-managed condition are extremely important in their own right and the county is nationally recognised for its number and quality of woodland and veteran trees species. Quality UK grown timber © Forestry Commission In reality traditional woodland management has been in decline since the end of the 19th century, and in many woodlands the lack of appropriate management and impact of agricultural and forestry policies has been a major factor in the loss of habitat composition,
Page 1 and 2: The Dorset Trees, Woods and Forest
Page 3 and 4: Contents Section 1 Key Themes 28 Ex
Page 5: Executive Summary Section 1 5 The v
Page 8 and 9: Maple Leaves © David Rees
Page 10 and 11: Section 2 Aims of Strategy 10 Outdo
Page 12 and 13: Cardinal Beetle © Forestry Commiss
Page 15 and 16: Section 3 History The character of
Page 19: Section 3 Woodland Ownership 19 (Al
Page 24: Section 3 24 Accessible woodlands O
Page 29 and 30: Key Strategic Links Section 4 29 So
Page 32 and 33: Section 4 32 There is now an overwh
Page 34 and 35: Section 5 The Future 34 This strate
Page 36 and 37: Woodland Anemome © Forestry Commis
Page 38 and 39: Section 6 38 Environmental cont’d
Page 40 and 41: Section 6 40 Economic Issue Recomme
Page 42 and 43: Section 7 References/ Bibliography
Page 44 and 45: Section 7 Further Sources of Inform
Page 46 and 47: Section 7 Appendix 1- Key Strategic
Page 48 and 49: Section 7 48 • Identify gaps and
Page 50 and 51: Section 7 Appendix 2 - Description
Page 58 and 59: Leaves © David Rees
Page 60: Oak Trunk © David Rees

Woodland Strategy 11.34 Mb - the Dorset AONB

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?