Broadleaved woodland

8% of Devon is covered in broadleaved woodland. 1% of this is ancient woodland.

Devon’s woodlands are a haven for iconic species such as hazel dormice.

What we need to do and where

Snapshot

What wildlife-rich looks like: 

Wildlife-rich broadleaved woodlands are all about variety, both in woodlands and between them. They include a mix of tree species and ages, light and shade, lots of standing and fallen deadwood, leaf litter, open sunny flower-rich areas in the woods and on their edges, areas of dense scrub, wetlands and streams.

Devon Focus Species

Mammals:  Bechstein’s bat, barbastelle bat (lesser and greater horseshoe, grey long-eared and serotine bats forage in woodlands), hazel dormouse, hedgehog, pine marten. 

Birds: lesser spotted woodpecker, pied flycatcher, wood warbler, marsh tit, spotted flycatcher. 

Moths and butterflies: wood white, pearl bordered, high brown and heath fritillaries, Dartmoor oak wood moths.    

Other invertebrates: six-spotted longhorn beetle, blue ground beetle, upland rainforest snails.

Plants, lichens and fungi: bastard balm, rare whitebeams, rainforest lichens.

Status

UK Priority Habitats: lowland mixed deciduous woodland and upland oak woodland. 

Irreplaceable habitats: ancient woodlands and veteran trees.

1. About

Before humans started woodland clearance, wild, broadleaved woodland, known as wildwood, covered much of Devon. However, it looked very different to the small isolated patches of woodland we see today. Grazing herbivores and natural processes such as flooding and disease would have created a continuous, dynamic mosaic of wildlife-rich, woody and open habitats, including flower-rich grasslands, heathland and wetlands.
 
Woodland clearance isn’t a new thing. Humans began serious clearance of Devon’s woodlands during the Bronze Age (around 2500 – 800 BC). By 1086, only around 4% of Devon was wooded (however it’s likely that trees outside woodlands would have been dominant in the landscape). Our remaining woodlands have been carefully managed for 1,000s of years. Initially this would have been small-scale management for firewood and timber, but it increased from the 17th century as charcoal was needed for the industrial revolution and timber for ship building. Coppicing was common and created open areas in woodlands allowing light-loving species to grow. Areas were often coppiced in a rotation, creating mosaics of habitats of different ages and providing conditions needed by different species. Woodland management also favoured certain tree species such as oak, which is dominant in most of Devon’s woodlands. 
 
Today, around 8% of Devon is covered in broadleaved woodland and 1% is ancient woodland. The majority of woodlands are small and often isolated in agricultulural or urban landscapes, causing issues for species which are poor at dispersing such as lichens and non- or weak-flying insects. Lack of management is leading to a lack of diversity of habitats in woodlands and long-term recording has shown huge declines in species such as woodland bats, birds and butterflies. See Key pressures and opportunites below for more information.
 
However, our woodlands are of critical wildlife value and support 1,000s of species. They remain a stronghold for iconic species such as hazel dormice and woodland birds such as flycatchers and woodpeckers. See the Devon Species of Conservation Concern spreadsheet in Information to find out which need woodland habitats.   
 
See other pages for information on Wet woodlands, Wood pasture and parkland, Conifer plantations, Ancient trees and Orchards.

Devon’s woodlands

Woodlands vary, depending on the soil (for example its pH, nutrients and depth), climate, hydrology and management. 

Exposed upland and coastal woodlands

Wistman’s Wood, Black Tor Copse and Dendle’s Wood (all part of Dartmoor SAC) are small relics of Dartmoor’s ancient high oak woodlands. The harsh, wet climate and poor acid soils support stunted gnarled oak trees, few shrubs and only a few acid loving plants, such as bilberry, hard fern, great wood rush and bracken. Cool, damp conditions and clean air provide perfect conditions for rare lichens and mosses. High rainfall creates acidic nutrient-poor bark, which supports a group of very rare lichens known as the upland rainforest lichens.  

Similar woodlands are found on the north-facing seacliffs on the Clovelly and Hartland coast, where the harsh Atlantic environment causes wind-stunted oak trees growing on maritime heathland. 

Sheltered upland and coastal woodlands

As conditions become less harsh Devon’s upland and coastal woodlands grade into a more lowland woodland community. These woods have shrubs such as hazel, holly and rowan and a richer ground flora of grasses, bluebells and wood sorrel.  

On the edges of Dartmoor, these woodlands include Yarner, Bovey Valley, Hembury, Sampford Spinbny, Shaugh Prior, Teign Valley and Holne (all of which are part of the South Dartmoor SAC) and lower parts of Dendle’s Wood. They’re largely ancient oak and hazel woodlands, which have evolved from historic coppicing. However, some are secondary woodlands which have grown on abandoned commons.  

Many are found in wildlife-rich mosaics with areas of heathland and acid grasslands. Open areas with bracken and violets support the rare high brown and pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies. Cow-wheat is a critical food plant for heath fritillary butterflies, now only found in one site on the western edge of Dartmoor. Wild daffodils can be seen in some woodlands. Large wood ant nests are common. Birds include pied flycatchers, wood warbler and redstart. Ash, small leaved lime and wild service tree are found on patches of more calcareous soils.  

Many of these woodlands are found along rivers, where the humid microclimate supports lichens, bryophytes and ferns such as royal fern and the Tunbridge filmy-fern. 

Watersmeet, found on the East Lyn river on the Exmoor coast, is one of largest remaining semi-natural ancient woodlands in the south west. It has a classic sequence of woodlands, from well-drained poor soils on valley tops to deeper and wetter soils lower down, with alder and willow wet woodlands. The woodlands are dominated by oak and grasses dominate the ground flora due to grazing. Watersmeet supports rare whitebeams as well as rare lichens, upland woodland birds and high brown fritillaries.

The bark in these humid sheltered woodlands is less acidic than in the exposed woodlands and supports a different group of very rare lichens. Lichen experts call these woodlands ‘southern oceanic’ rainforest.

Lowland woodlands

Devon’s lowland woodlands are found across the county, again often in steep river valleys or on poorer soils where land hasn’t been cleared for agriculture. The species mix is similar to the more sheltered Dartmoor and Exmoor woodlands with oak, ash and hazel, honeysuckle, bramble and ivy. The ground flora can include bluebell, wood sorrel, wild garlic and ancient woodland indicators such as woodruff, sanicle, yellow archangel, wood spurge and opposite leaved golden saxirage in wetter areas. These woodlands support hazel dormice and a wealth of species such as specialist woodland bats (including Bechstein’s and barbastelle) birds and insects. They occur across Devon and examples include the woodlands of the south Devon estuaries such as the Dart and Erme.

River corridor woodlands provide critical wildlife corridors and are a key part of the river ecosystem. They stabilise banks, reduce pollution and regulate water temperature. Tree roots and woody debris falling into watercourses provide important habitats. See Watercourse corridors for more information. In wider, flatter floodplains, riparian woodland has been lost and what remains is often fragmented or a line of bankside trees. 

Calcareous soils

Woodlands found on limestone soils (Torbay, Plymouth and Kingskerswell) and chalk (east Devon coast) support a mix of trees that, until recently, would have been dominated by ash. Field maple is often present and the ground flora includes species such as dog’s mercury, which isn’t found on acid soils.

Temperate rainforest

There is currently a huge interest in the UK’s temperate rainforests. Temperate rainforests occur in the wet and humid west of the UK and support characteristic bryophytes and lichens. Lichen experts divide temperate rainforests into three types: upland rainforest, lowland rainforest and southern oceanic woodlands. 

Devon has upland rainforests and southern oceanic woodlands. Upland rainforests include the more exposed woodlands described above. They support a group of rare lichens that live on the very acidic bark found on trees in these areas. Southern oceanic woodlands are defined by lichen species which live on less acidic bark in more sheltered, humid areas. These humid woodlands are found across much of Devon. See Lichens for more information.

Ancient woodlands

Devon’s most species-rich broadleaved woodlands are ancient, semi-natural woodlands that have been in existence since at least 1600. Because they’re more than 400 years old, ancient woodlands provide a continuity of species, habitats and soils that may date back to the original Devon wildwood. They make up just over 1% of land in Devon and are concentrated on steeper land around rivers, estuaries and moorland edges where the ground is harder to clear and less suitable for agriculture and development.

Key features

The mosaic of habitats and structural diversity in and between woodlands is essential for wildlife.

Ancient and veteran trees: One of the most critical and species-rich elements of all woodlands, ancient and veteran trees provide habitat for 1,000s of species, particularly invertebrates that are a food source for species such as bats and birds. Old trees often have cracks and loose bark that provide roosts for rare bats such as barbastelle and Bechstein’s and holes where birds such as pied flycatchers, owls and woodpeckers nest.

Deadwood and leaf litter. Standing and fallen deadwood are both important and used by different species, particuarly invertebrates, fungi and lichens. Focus Species that rely on deadwood include deadwood lichens, the blue ground beetle and the six-spotted longhorn beetle. The Dartmoor ancient oak moth group depend on leaf litter, deadwood and fungi. See links in What we need to do and where below. 

Well-lit tree bark. Tree bark supports a wealth of rare lichen communities. Acidic bark in exposed upland and coastal woodlands (upland rainforests) supports the rare parmelion lichen community. The only locations for the horsehair lichen in the UK are Blackator Copse and Wistman’s Wood on Dartmoor. Less acidic bark in more sheltered woodlands (known as southern oceanic woodlands) supports very rare lobarion lichens.

Sunny, flower-rich areas: These areas provide pollen and food plants for invertebrates such as the very rare heath fritillary butterfly caterpillar that feeds on cow-wheat.

Native species: Wildlife living in woodlands has shaped the mix of native broadleaved trees and shrubs (such as oak, ash, elm, hazel and birch) and ground flora. For example, white admiral butterfly caterpillars feed exclusively on honeysuckle (which hazel dormice use to build nests) and white-letter hairstreak caterpillars feed on elm. Oak is a critical habitat for xxxxx species.

Different shrub layers: Some species, such as pied flycatchers, wood warblers, lesser spotted woodpeckers and the blue ground beetle, prefer open woodlands with a sparse shrub layer. Other species, such as marsh tits and lesser spotted woodpeckers, prefer a dense shrub layer. Therefore, we need mosaics of different habitats in our woodlands, which rotational management can achieve.

Bracken and violet habitats on woodland edges and in clearings:  These habitats provide shelter and food plants for the caterpillars of the pearl-bordered fritillary and high brown fritillary butterflies.  

Connectivity and wooded landscapes: Because hazel dormice live in trees and shrubs and rarely touch the ground, they need connected habitats so they can disperse and find new habitat. Species such as lichens and bryophytes are very poor at dispersing and need a continuity of veteran trees close by. Declining bird species such as lesser spotted woodpecker need large, mature woodlands or well-wooded landscapes.

Lots of invertebrates: Species such as bats and birds rely on a constant supply of small invertebrates, which in turn rely on a mosaic of microhabitats.

Health check

This is draft – to be finished following Consultation to ensure latest data from NE and DBRC
 
Area  
 
There are 55,235 hectares of broadleaved woodland in Devon, covering 8% of the county. This represents 69% of total woodland cover (the rest being conifer or mixed). 15% of this broadleaved woodland is ancient semi-natural, covering 8,492ha, or 1.2% of the county.
 
Area under management
Woodlands under management generally have a greater variety of habitats within them and are better for wildlife.  
 
47% of Devons woodlands are assessed by the Forestry Commission (2025) as being under some form of management (having either a management plan or felling licence).  However, even where management plans are in place, there is no requirement that the works actually take place and  47% may be a significant over-estimate – or,       
The number of woodlands being managed may be greater than 47% as small areas of woodlands can be felled without a licence or management plan in place. 
 
Designations and condition
 
Statutory designations
46 broadleaved woodlands are designated as SSSIs in whole or part. These cover around 3,700 hectares. Examples are Wistmans Wood, Hembury Woods (on Dartmoor), Warleigh Woods (on the Tamar) and Horner and Hawkcombe woods (on Exmoor).   Need to add SACs – South Dartmoor Woods
 
67% of SSSIs are recognised as being in favourable condition and 31% as unfavourable or recovering.  Key reasons for being unfavourable?
 
County Wildlife Sites (CWS)
740 CWS in Devon have broadleaved woodland (just lowland?)
 
CWS data for lowland mixed deciduous woodland shows that of 179 sites monitored, 72 (40%) were assessed as green, 100 as amber (56%) and 7 as red. Issues include inappropriate grazing by livestock, dominance of invasive species and heavy shading from species such as holly. 

Key pressures and opportunities

See Find out more below for links to data, issues, projects and organisations.

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Woodland management and timber markets

Devon’s woodlands have all been managed by humans for thousands of years, for fuel, timber, farming and food. Although this management changed the makeup of the woodlands, rotational coppicing replicated natural processes by creating a varied age structure in and between woodlands. Today, woodlands are ideally managed through continuous cover forestry, which ensures that the woodland retains or develops a strong, nature-rich, structure. Some of Devon’s most nature-rich woodlands are managed for timber, such as those managed by the Perridge Estate, the Clinton Devon Estates and the National Trust and Woodland Trust at Fingle in the Teign Valley.

However, 53% of Devon’s woodlands are thought to be unmanaged and only 30 hectares are recorded as being actively coppiced. Management of woodlands at scale can be costly and markets for broadleaved woodland products, beyond firewood and some specialist timber outlets, are limited.

There are opportunities to further develop markets for broadleaved timber to support the management of broadleaved woodlands. Specialist manufacturing timber (as demonstrated by Dartmoor’s Future Forests), alongside local firewood and some specialist charcoal markets, can all help to bring woodlands back into management. Holne Chase woodland on Dartmoor is a good example of a private owner managing an SSSI broadleaf woodland to produce timber and firewood while benefitting nature, though thinning which introduces more light.

Plym Woods is another example where broadleaved woodland is being managed (in this case by Forestry England) with a focus on restoring ancient woodland and where there are existing markets for both the broadleaved and conifer timber that’s harvested as part of the long-term management plan.

Charities, including Devon Wildlife Trust, the National Trust and the Woodland Trust all own and manage broadleaved woodland where the timber produced goes to a range of uses with commercial value. Woods at Holne, Hembury, Avon Valley, Dart Valley and Holnicote are all under management plans where production of timber is part of nature recovery.

Technologies, such as glulam, also offer opportunities for markets for limited amounts of broadleaved timber.    

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Small and fragmented woodlands

Many of Devon’s woodlands are now small and isolated from each other. This has huge impacts on species that are poor at dispersing such as lichens, bryophytes and insects such as wood white butterflies, which are weak fliers. To meet different species’ needs, we need bigger woodlands that are well connected by a range of habitats.

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Plantation on ancient woodland sites (PAWS)

There are extensive areas of plantations on ancient woodland sites across Devon. Managing these sites with systems that mimic natural processes, such as continuous cover forestry rather than clear felling, can produce nature-rich woodlands and retain commercial timber value. However, some species, such as nightjar, rely on clear-felled open areas and so a mosaic of habitats is always needed.

Restoring PAWS is a priority in the LNRS.

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Grey squirrels and deer

Grey squirrels strip bark, which can damage or kill young trees. Deer graze on young trees and shrubs and can prevent them from developing. Both are a huge problem when regenerating or creating woodland. Without adequate control, the presence of both species is a significant deterrent for landowners who want to plant new broadleaved woodland.   Add opportunities…….collaborative landscape scale programmes to control deer and squirrels?  Pine martens?

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Invasives and disease

Ornamental non-native species (such as rhododendron, cherry laurel and Himalayan balsam) and regenerating non-native timber species (such as western hemlock and spruce) can spread rapidly in woodlands and suppress native trees, shrubs and ground flora.  

Broadleaved woodlands are often used for pheasant shooting. However, introducing pheasants and their feed can markedly change the native ground flora and fauna and impact on nature recovery. 

The accidental introduction of pests and diseases is increasing rapidly. Two of Devon’s most prolific native woodland trees, elm and ash, have been (or will be) largely lost from the landscape due to Dutch elm disease and ash dieback. 

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Recreation, health and wellbeing

The health benefits of contact with the natural world are now well known. There are huge opportunities to increase appropriate access to existing woodlands and create new opportunities near to where people live. Woodlands and trees also have huge benefits in terms of absorbing pollution and noise and reducing temperatures. The importance of woodlands for health and wellbeing means that they are an integral part of green infrastructure strategies being developed by a number of local authorities in Devon. See Connecting people and nature for more information. 

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Climate change

Climate change will affect the health of individual trees, the tree species used to create new woodlands and the species that live in woodlands.

The urgent need for carbon sequestration and adaptation (including the benefits of woodlands in towns to regulate temperature) has opened up new opportunities for woodland creation projects. Many organisations, including local authorities, South West Water and the National Trust, now have woodland creation targets. 

The ability of trees to absorb and retain carbon led to the development of the Woodland Carbon Code. This nationally-accredited scheme provides funding and incentives to create new woodland and retain existing broadleaf woodland over the long term.

Consultation question:  Are there still few opportunites in Devon to buy carbon credits through the Woodland Carbon Code…..why? 

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Woodlands and water

Woodlands are now recognised as an integral part of the solution to improve water quality and reduce flooding. This new understanding has increased funding opportunities such as the Water Restoration Fund.  See Water for more information.

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Interest in temperate rainforest

There is currently a huge interest in temperate rainforests. The Southwest Rainforest Alliance is a voluntary group of conservation bodies, local authorities, landowners and specialists that recognises the importance of the region’s surviving temperate rainforests and is working to protect, enhance and restore this valuable and internationally distinctive habitat.

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Government targets, funding and regulation

The current national focus on increasing tree cover has increased funding opportunities through Environmental Land Management, the England Woodland Creation Offer and the Farming in Protected Landscape programme. This has led to increased funding for landscape-scale projects such as the Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest. There are also some limited funding opportunities for a wide range of government bodies manage, fund and regulate woodland management and creation, including the Forestry Commission, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Ministry of Defence and National Highways. However, work is not always as joined up as it could be and the sector can be confusing to land managers and community groups who want to take action or find funding.

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Organisations, partnerships, communities

There are a huge number of organisations across Devon that manage land, provide funding and work with land managers to manage and create woodlands. These organisations include the Woodland Trust, Plantlife, the Wildlife Trust, the National Trust, Southwest Lakes Trust and FWAG (the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group).

There is huge interest among community groups to manage and increase woodland cover across Devon and groups are being set up to work on specific woodlands, such as Axewoods in east Devon. For more information see Find out more below.

2. What we need to do and where

Priority

Better (wildlife-rich), bigger and more broadleaved woodlands that are connected to a network of habitats across the landscape, particularly where this will benefit ancient woodlands, Focus Species and provide wider social benefits.    

See Find out more below for national and local woodland targets

Actions for all Broadleaved woodland

For links to detailed guidance and sources of funding and advice please see Find out more below.

Manage and buffer existing broadleaved woodlands to maximise their wildlife value, particularly to benefit ancient woodlands, Focus Species and provide wider social benefits.

Management actions for all woodlands should include:  

  • Keep standing and fallen deadwood.
  • Identify, keep and prevent harm to ancient, wildlife-rich features such as ancient trees and banks.
  • Control invasive or problem species. These species include non-natives such as rhododendron and laurel, and natives such as ivy, bramble and holly that can swamp other ground flora.
  • Control deer and grey squirrel populations. See strategic actions below.
  • Create a varied age, physical structure and mix of native species, for example by thinning, coppicing and creating open rides and glades, scrubby woodland edges and wetlands. Phase action to create variation, with some areas under management, others regenerating and some that have minimum intervention. Consider reinstating coppicing where this was previously done. 
  • Buffer woodlands from indirect impacts such as lighting, pesticides and invasive species by creating a mosaic of other habitats, including field margins, around existing woodlands.
  • Implement rigorous biosecurity measures.

Other management actions may include (depending on the woodland)

  • Light grazing by cattle or managed deer populations at levels that maintain open areas but still allow natural regeneration and maintain ground flora. However, grazing may not be appropriate in some woods. Where woodlands merge into wood pasture (with a lower density of trees and without closed woodland canopy overhead), higher stocking levels will be appropriate.

Create a network of broadleaved woodlands, particularly by expanding ancient woodlands and to benefit Focus Species and provide wider social benefits. 

  • Develop and implement new woodland creation plans in accordance with United Kingdom Forestry Standard (UKFS) and Forestry Commission Woodland Creation Offer to maximise opportunities for public funding.
  • Use native species to improve resilience. Check consistent with Tree Strategy wording Follow the right tree in the right place principle, based on soils and other physical factors.
  • Adopt a suitable establishment approach, including measures to protect young trees. Use natural regeneration where seed sources are present. See more on natural regeneration in Find out more below. 
  • Implement rigorous biosecurity measures such as sourcing trees from Plant Healthy or UK and Ireland Source and Grown sources.
  • Design new woodlands for both wildlife and other outcomes such as timber or recreation.

Important:  Ensure that woodland regeneration and creation do not damage or remove existing wildlife-rich habitats.  

Strategic actions

Develop collaborative, landscape-scale approaches to squirrel and deer control

There is a need for landscape-scale control measures for both deer and grey squirrels. There are proven approaches and support and funding is available from the Forestry Commission. To succeed, programmes need an individual or organisation that can provide the impetus and co-ordinate control over an extended area and for the long term.

  • Increase sources of local trees and shrubs

Support tree nurseries and community projects that supply trees and shrubs grown from local seed.  Discuss – how? What’s needed?  If the ambitious woodland creation targets are to be met then there needs to be a significant increase in available tree and shrub stock. Ideally this would come from tree and shrub seed collected from the 305 provenance zone that covers south-west England.    

  • Promote best practice

Promote sites that demonstrate successful broadleaf woodland management such as Horner and Hembury Woods – is FC etc doing this?  List of sites to visit?  

  • Biosecurity ?? add actions
  • Develop new markets for broadleaved timber ??

detailed actions?

  • Manage and create woodlands to improve water quality and natural flood management

See Water for more details ? check Water page

  • Increase appropriate access to existing woodlands and create new accessible woodlands where people live and in new housing developments.  See connecting people and nature
  • Develop a more joined-up advice service for land managers

Link to funding and advice section…..?

Other relevant actions

Click on the links below to find the Focus Species listed here.

  • Moths and butterflies: Wood white, bracken and violet butterflies, heath fritillary, Dartmoor ancient oak woods moths, brown hairstreak, hedge and scrub butterfly and moths
  • Bugs and beetles: Blue ground beetle
  • Flowering plants and ferns: Bastard balm, rare whitebeams
  • Bryophytes: Bryophytes of south Devon wooded creeks
  • Lichen: Deadwood lichen communities, upland rainforest lichens, southern oceanic woodland lichens

Where to focus action

Actions are prioritised to the following High Opportunity Areas. See Mapping for the LNRS Viewer and information on how areas have been mapped.

Woodland management:

  • All existing broadleaved woodlands, especially those that are ancient semi-natural woodlands. These woodlands form the core (along with other wildlife-rich habitats) of the Devon Nature Recovery Network and are critical habitat for many Devon Species of Conservation Concern as well as Focus Species that are widespread across the county such as lesser horseshoe bat, barbastelle bat, brown hairstreak butterfly, dormouse and hedgehog.  

Woodland creation:

  • Woody buffer and expansion zones, especially those that will expand ancient semi-natural woodlands. The Forestry Commission’s Priority Habitat Network mapping for the English Woodland Creation Offer fund has been used to ensure consistency and alignment with funding streams.

Woodland management and creation:

  • Temperate Rainforest Restoration Zones
  • Mammals: Bechstein’s bat woodland zone
  • Birds: pied flycatcher and wood warbler woods
  • Butterflies: wood white, pearl bordered fritillary, high brown fritillary, heath fritillary
  • Natural Flood Management

Broadleaved woodlands should be included as part of a mosaic of habitats in:

  • Watercourse corridors
  • Community access to nature

It’s important to ensure that woodland creation does not damage or destroy existing wildlife-rich habitats, including rough grasslands used as foraging areas for bats and birds. Some of these habitats are shown on the LNRS Viewer but many are not mapped and survey is always needed.

Woodland creation should be avoided in the following High Opportunity Areas:

  • Wildlife-rich grasslands
  • Lowland mires and heaths
  • Purple moor-grass and rush pasture 
  • Dartmoor valley mires
  • Coastal intertidal habitats
  • Dartmoor rare bird nesting areas
  • Dartmoor and Exmoor whinchat zones
  • Teign Gorge rock spiders, Plymouth spiders
  • Potential estuarine high-tide roosts (see wintering estuary birds layer)

Advice should be obtained before any woodland creation in the following High Opportunity Areas to ensure that it will not harm existing wildlife:

  • All High Opportunity Areas for wildlife-rich grasslands, heath, mire and rush pasture, upland bog, heath and mire
  • Coastal Wildbelt
  • Greater horseshoe and grey long-eared bat sustenance zones
  • Marsh fritillary and the narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth
  • South Devon arable plant zone

Consultation question:  is the list above clear and helpful?  How could it be better set out?  Is anything missing?

3. Inspiration

Case studies

There’s lots of great work going on across Devon for broadleaved woodland. For example:

Agree case studies through the Consultation – text below is draft

Timber production and nature recovery

Landowners across Devon are managing broadleaved woodlands to both produce timber and help nature recover. The Clinton Devon, Tavistock Woodlands and Perridge estates are examples of how commercial woodland management and nature recovery can work together.

Dartmoor’s Future Forests……?

Charities managing broadleaf woodland

A number of charities also manage broadleaf woodland with nature recovery as a priority. The Woodland Trust, Devon Wildlife Trust and National Trust all manage woodlands with key sites in the Avon Valley and on Dartmoor and Exmoor.

New broadleaved woodlands being created across Devon

New broadleaved woodlands are being created across Devon. Recent examples include Yonder Oak near Exeter, which was created by the Woodland Trust, and Wembury and South Brent, which was created by the Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest in partnership with the National Trust and South Hams District Council.

Where to visit

Always follow the Countryside Code and stick to footpaths and sites that are managed for public access. 

Yarner woods

Hembury and Holne woods

For information on these and other sites that are open to the public please see the Explore Devon website.  

4. Find out more

Very draft – add links and tidy up through Consultation

Woodland targets

Align with the Devon Tree and Woodland Strategy and any subsequent thinking since TOW published…

There are a range of national and local targets that set the context for nature recovery for Broadleaved Woodlands.  These include:

Better

– Long Term. 95% at JNCC Favourable Conservation Status

– Long Term. 80% in good condition as per Woodland Condition Assessment

– Long term. Woodlands in active management for biodiversity, climate and sustainable forestry

– Short Term. 70% of woodlands in active management by 2030

– Short Term. Majority of PAWs in restoration by 2030.

Bigger, connected and more

– Long Term.  Expanded as part of 16.5% woodland cover by 2050

– Short term.  Part of 3,000 ha’s of new woodland by 2030

Devon’s woodlands

Further information on Upland Oak woodlands in Devon can be found at https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/wildlife-and-heritage/habitats2/woodland/upland-oakwood

The State of Temperate Rainforest: SW England report – June 2024  add link (is saved in web folder)

Ancient Country: The historic character of rural Devon, Sam Turner, 2007.  Devon Archaeological Society Occasional Paper 20

SW Rainforest Alliance is working to restore and expand Temperate Rainforests.  Add link

General

Confor

Forestry Commission

The Woodland Trust  Woodland Trust

National Forest Inventory (NFI) is an ongoing programme to monitor UK woodlands and forests with surveys conducted every 10-15 years by Forest Research.

Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI) – A database of the locations of over 52,000 ancient woodland sites in England. Ancient woodland is woodland that has persisted since 1600 in England. More detail is available at this Natural England link. Of this Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW) has developed naturally and Plantations on Ancient Woodland sites (PAWS) have been felled and replaced by non-native (mostly conifer) species.

Management and creation

Undertake management in accordance with United Kingdom Forestry Standard (UKFS) and

 Forestry Commission Woodland Management Guidance to maximise opportunities for public funding. 

Forest Research advice on management of native and ancient woodland is at FR Guidance

Further information on Lowland Mixed Deciduous Woodlands is at DWT Lowland Guidance (out of date?)  and FC Lowland Guidance

 Detailed advice and support on management can be found on Continuous Cover Forestry and CCF summary

Forest Research guidance on riparian woodland Creating and managing riparian woodland

Undertake creation in accordance with United Kingdom Forestry Standard (UKFS) and Forestry Commission Woodland Creation Offer to maximise opportunities for public funding

Natural regeneration 

Where there is sufficient seed source in the soil and suitable site conditions, the benefits of natural regeneration include greater ecological complexity and diversity, increased resilience to climate change and disease, and avoiding the risk (with planting) of introducing new pests and diseases.  See Find out more for more details.

Natural regeneration requires less management, less resources (no need for tree shelters, ties, containers or for growing trees and transporting them), and can be more cost effective than planting.

If your chosen site has poor seed stock sources (e.g. if it has been intensively farmed), direct seeding can be a good option to introduce seeds while encouraging natural establishment.

In reality, many schemes seeking naturalistic outcomes for biodiversity may include a mix of natural regeneration and some planting

The Woodland Trust provides advice on selecting suitable native tree species.

All planting must consider the soil type. Many previous planting that did not adequately understand the soil failed as a result. Forest research’s online mapping system provides information on the suitability of a wide range of tree species based on a site’s soil characteristics – but relies on correct information being input. The system factors in likely climatic changes, so recommended tree species should survive warmer temperatures, drier summer conditions and wetter winter conditions than today.

The Ecological Site Classification (ESC):

Community groups / not-for-profits

There are lots of groups across Devon and a few examples given below.  See WAD pages on the LNP website for more information on community wildlife groups across Devon.

Axewoods is a not-for-profit volunteer organisation that aims to provide free woodland management to local farmers, charities, landowners and organisations – Home – Axewoods

More facts and figures on Devon’s woodlands

Devon’s broadleaved woodlands are made up of the following National Forestry Inventory categories – see xxxx for further details    
– Broadleaved.  50,011ha
– Active coppice.   30ha
– Low density woodland.  151ha
– Shrub.   394ha
– Assumed woodland.   1,787ha
– Young trees.   2,802ha
– Failed woods.  60ha.
 
Note that these figures will include single species plantations, especially beech but also increasingly small areas of other species such as eucalyptus.

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