Woodland Creation

Introduction In January 2018 the Government published its  25 Year Environment Plan  that set out a bold ambition to leave the environment in a better state than it was found in for future generations to enjoy. Priorities included the need to manage land sustainably, to recover nature and enhance the beauty of landscapes. Commitments included the need to protect existing ancient woodlands, to increase the proportion of broadleaf woodlands that are sustainably managed and to support large scale woodland creation.

Northumberland National Park Authority fully supports the Government’s target to plant 30,000 hectares of new woodland each year for 25 years across the UK from 2023. The Authority is actively working with land managers, the  Great Northumberland Forest  team and others to help contribute towards this target. The Authority also recognises that commercial forestry is an important part of the rural economy in parts of the National Park, but it is a fine balancing act when it comes to ensuring that new forestry proposals are not, as has been the situation in the past, detrimental to the landscape character, wildlife and the special qualities of the National Park that residents and visitors cherish so much. In summary, the Authority's work on woodland creation and management will be guided by the following position statements:-

• The Authority recognises the need for new woodland across the National Park - for nature, carbon capture water management, landscape enhancement and timber.
• Whilst it is recognised that there is some opportunity for new productive woodland, the greatest need and opportunity is for new broadleaved and native woodland – Currently 23% of the National Park is managed for trees (24,000ha.). The Authority will work with landowners and others to increase broadleaved and native woodland by 6,000 hectares by 2060 (162ha per year). This includes establishment of woodlands and wood pasture by planting and natural regeneration for the benefits cited above.
• The Authority recognises that there is significant scope to enhance the existing productive forestry stands, to make them more diverse, nature rich and resiliant to the impacts of climate change. At the same time the Authority will seek the restoration of aforested sites planted on peat for longterm carbon storage and ecological benefits, encouraging compensatory planting elsewhere so that there is no net loss of woodland as a result of this important restoration work.
• The Authority will support a call for action and campaign for funding and land for new broadleaf and native woodland creation and peatland restoration, including direct involvement by the Authority where opportunities present themselves.

Read on to learn how these commitments are being taken forward across Northumberland National Park and to find out what resources and assistance is being made available to assist land managers who are wanting to know more about woodland creation opportunities. Further detail can be found in the current National Park Management Plan.

Woodland Cover Across Northumberland National Park

Like much of the country, a diverse natural woodland developed across the landscape of Northumberland National Park after the last ice age 11,000 years ago. This ‘wildwood’ persisted, enriched and managed itself naturally for millennia until human habitation of the British Isles. Human activity led to the onset of the great woodland clearance, driven by the demand for wood fuel, building materials and emerging agricultural practices. It is suggested that by the Iron Age, circa 600BC just 50% of the wildwood was left intact. The Domesday Book of 1086 indicated that this had dropped to just 15% and the graph opposite depicts the more recent situation.

Ancient woods are woodlands that have had continuous tree cover since AD 1600 and are still the richest and most complex terrestrial habitats in Britain. They tend to be diverse habitats both in terms of the different tree species growing within them and also the associated ground flora to be found on their undisturbed soils. These in turn support a plethora of other species, many of which are rare or unique to a particular location. However, as society's demand for timber grew, largely as a result of the Agricultural and subsequent Industrial Revolutions, only 2.5% of the original ancient woodland remains intact today. Ancient woods are home to more threatened species than any other habitat in Britain. Highlighting the scale of the problem here in north-east England, the Natural England’s  Register of Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland  has recorded only 589 hectares, of ancient woodland, in Northumberland National Park, representing just 0.56% of the National Park area. Linked to this, Northumberland National Park also has one of the lowest recorded number of  ancient and veteran trees  found in the English National Parks. So whilst there is a rich cultural record of human interaction with the landscape, the living history has suffered as a result of past human activity.

At the beginning of the twentieth century England’s woodland cover was just 5% and this stark reality came to a head when there was a national  shortage of timber  needed during the 1914 – 1918 First World War.  The Government's response to this problem was to pass the Forestry Act on 1 ^st  September 1919, which in turn led to the establishment of the  Forestry Commission  and a mass drive to plant trees across the United Kingdom. Tree cover has now risen to 13% across the UK and the Forestry Commission is the UK’s largest landowner responsible for managing some 860,000 hectares, 27% of the nation’s woodland resource.

Woodland Creation Aspirations of Northumberland National Park Authority

Despite already having over twice the national average tree cover, the Authority recognises that there is still capacity to establish more carefully planned woodlands across the National Park that can help address the ecological and climate crisis that the country is currently facing. The agreed vision for Northumberland National Park identifies that “Its inspiring and changing landscapes, characterised by open spaces, tranquillity, diverse habitats, geology and rich cultural heritage, will be widely recognised and valued.” With the current woodland resource comprising 89% conifer species, clearly there is a lack of species, age and visual diversity at present, which in turn influences the ecological diversity and makes the woodland resource less resilient to pests, diseases and the impact of the climate crisis. Therefore, the Authority is prioritising its efforts to achieve a greater diversity within the new woodlands and existing forestry blocks across the National Park; through promoting the principal of ‘ The Right Tree in the Right Place ’, as defined by National Parks England in 2018. There is also an expectation that all woodland creation and management work in undertaken in line with the  UK Forestry Standard , which is regarded as the minimum standard for woodland work in the National Park.

Methods of Woodland Establishment and Choosing Which Species to Plant. There is a sequence of steps that a land manager needs to go through in order to ensure that the right trees are planted in the right place, the most important being identifying the objective of any tree planting scheme in the first place. Essentially trees and new woodlands can be established in two different ways. We hear much about tree planting targets, but it should be remembered that before humans started to proactively plant trees en masse to be harvested, nature took care of itself as the wildwood established through a process of natural colonisation.

Identifying the management objectives of a new tree planting scheme will help determine if natural colonisation is an appropriate means to establish the trees. Natural colonisation of trees can take time and is more likely to be suited to some objectives, particularly landscape or biodiversity enhancement schemes than others such as commercial timber production. One point to note is that the species that are likely to establish in a natural colonisation scheme are predominantly going to be those found locally, as the source of the seed is most likely to come from near-by trees. If there is a considerable distance between the proposed woodland area and the nearest existing seed source, then a process of supplementary planting should be considered. Details on this approach to woodland creation can be found in the Forestry Commission’s publication “ Using natural colonisation for the creation of new woodland ”.

Again when it comes to choosing which tree to plant, the management objectives will be important but so too will be knowing the site characterises and ground conditions. Soil type, soil depth, pH, hydrology and ecological constraints are some of aspects that will help inform which trees to select. When it comes to creating a new native woodland, there has been a long tradition of selecting locally native species. However, it is recognised that given the climate change predictions of warmer wetter winters, hotter drier summers and more frequent significant weather events, then it would be prudent to select a percentage of the trees that are more suited to growing in hotter environments. For Northumberland that would mean species that are currently locally native to say southern England. The Forestry England publication " Diverse forests in a changing climate " is a useful starting point when considering these matters. There is plenty of other guidance available to help inform species choice from organisations such as  Woodland Trust  and more locally from the  Northumberland Wildlife Trust . Finally, don't forget to consider the access implications and plan these in and set them out from the start. Too many times we have seen this left as an afterthought only to cause difficulties in the future.

Northumberland National Park – Known Constraints to Woodland Creation The following text and accompanying maps will take you through many of the known mapped constraints that exist for woodland creation across the National Park. The constraints identified may be physical constraints such as roads, open water or built-up areas, or they may relate to an existing known sensitivity such as a scheduled monument, area of deep peat or land identified important for nature conservation, for example breeding waders. This mapping is provided as a desk based tool to help inform decision making at an early stage but it should be remembered that not all woodland constraints can be mapped, for example assessing the effect of a creation scheme on the landscape character, views and sense of place of a particular location should be done in the field. In all cases, any proposals for a new woodland creation scheme should involve a detailed site survey, subsequent research and liaison with your local Forestry Commission Woodland Officer.

The data presented in the maps below is specific to the establishment of new woodland blocks rather than individual tree planting; an example being that for roads, a width of 20 meters either side of the highway has been identified as constrained land for woodland creation as it would be prudent not to plant in areas that may lead to trees falling on to roads or power lines as occurred in Storm Arwen that hit the north-east in November 2021. So a precautionary principle has been adopted in this mapping exercise. However, the planting of individual trees within existing and new hedgerows that may run alongside a road is still considered appropriate but again, species choice should be informed by, amongst other things, climate change implications, known tree diseases and biodiversity benefits.

Separate maps have been produced depending on whether the woodland creation scheme being considered is predominantly (80%+) made up of conifer species or broadleaved species. The constraints needed to be considered do differ depending on species choice and the management objectives associated with the woodland proposal.

For each type of woodland, the constraints have been grouped into three separate categories namely:-

• Category 0 Constraints -  Land where woodland planting is not possible.

• Category 1 Constraints -  Land where planting is highly unlikely to be supported.

• Category 2 Constraints -  Land that has known sensitivities, but planting might be . supported, subject to appropriate assessment.

The final map in the series below then indicates where we believe there are no known/ mapped constraints and therefore identifies the best opportunities to establish a new woodland that is likely to be in keeping with the National Park statutory purposes.

Having identified all those areas where known mappable constraints exist or where careful consideration of the existing sensitivities are needed, we can then identify those parts of the National Park landscape that have no known constraints and thus are most likely to be suitable for broadleaf or conifer woodland establishment.

Looking at the known characteristics of these areas we can even identify those sites where tree establishment would in time bring the greatest positive return to society. For example, riparian zone planting next to watercourses will help shade the water and limit water temperature rises predicted to occur as a result of climate change, thus protect the aquatic ecology. At the same time the trees will help stabilise the river bank and prevent diffuse pollution from entering the watercourse, they will physically 'slow the flow' during periods of spate thus helping protect communities from flooding lower down the catchment. We have also identified grassland slopes that are likely to have minimal benefit to waders and could be considered for woodland establishment.

Similarly, there are hundreds of hectares of unproductive bracken beds found across the National Park. This is a highly invasive species and suppresses grass growth adding little to the productivity of an upland hill farm. Such areas, if planted up with broadleaved trees, could greatly enhance the landscape and ecological diversity of these areas.

Use the slider in the middle of the map below to see where the principal constraints (grey and red) to broadleaf woodland establishment exist (on the left) and the principal constraints (grey and red) to conifer woodland establishment exist (on the right). The opportunities for broadleaved establishment (light green) and possibilities for broadleaf establishment, subject to review of sensitivities (beige) are also highlighted.

For further information on who to get in touch with or to find out more about the woodland creation funding opportunities available, please click here!

National Forest Inventory (NFI), 2019 - Contains, or is based on information supplied by the Forestry Commission, © Crown copyright and database right 2019 Ordnance Survey [100021242] 

Ancient Woodland Inventory, Agricultural Land Class, National Parks, - © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (2022) 

Ordnance Survey open data, including County Boundary - Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right (2022)