Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK, having been in existence since 1972. The main aim of the charity is to protect the UK’s woods, restore ancient woodland, and plant trees for the benefit of people and wildlife. Having a nation rich in native trees and woods is the overall vision that guides the Woodland Trust.
The UK’s natural environment is one that faces numerous challenges and threats. As woodland covers about 13 percent of the entire country, the Woodland Trust has taken it upon itself to create new areas of woods and trees close to wildlife-rich areas so that these new woodlands act as buffers from the impact of land use, not to mention enlarge existing natural habitats. Furthermore, the charity is also integrating woodland and trees into farmland and urban areas, helping communities realise the benefits of shade, shelter, cooling and reduced flooding.
As a charity, the Woodland Trust relies on voluntary contributions from memberships, well-wishers, supporters, legacies, donations and through the purchase of goods and lottery tickets. Contributions from these sources are supplemented by income from trading, commercial sponsorship and grants from organisations such as the Forestry Commission and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
In 2018, 80 pence of every donated pound was channelled towards the charity’s activities. Thomas Noel Collister Jackson, a London-based solicitor, is among the many contributors towards the charity.
Existing Threats
Over the years, the Woodland Trust has been able to identify the present threats to the country’s woodlands, which it considers to be a valuable natural asset. These threats include:
- Tree Diseases and Pests – Increasingly, the charity has noted that the number of diseases and pests that affect can have a detrimental impact on wildlife and woodland. Through partnerships and research, Woodland Trust is working to understand how to tackle various pests and diseases and protect woods from them.
- Human Activity – Human development on woodlands has had a great impact on ancient woods, with over 1,000 under threat due to human activity. Woodland Trust has noted that weak legislation has not provided ample protection for the woods. These are areas that the charity is working to address through advocacy work and by creating new wildlife areas around valuable woods.
Ancient Woodlands
Preserving ancient woodlands is part of the Woodland Trust’s mission; by definition, ancient woodlands are areas where woodlands have existed for centuries. These woodlands also tend to have remained relatively undisturbed, allowing them to steadily evolved into complex ecosystems where trees, insects, plants, microorganisms and fungi co-exist peacefully. In England and Wales, ancient woodlands can be found on maps that date as far back as 1600. The presumption is that if these regions are identifiable on such maps, then they are likely to have existed for much longer.
Since each ancient wood has its unique identity, the woodlands hold the potential for archaeological and cultural heritage that make them worth preserving. For this reason, Woodland Trust sees the urgent need to protect these ancient woods, since their cover in the UK is just two percent. The charity has continuously worked with partners and landowners across the country to restore the ancient woods and secure the existing woodlands to enable them to return to their natural state.
What drives the Woodland Trust to fight for ancient woodlands is the realisation that the real value of such regions is found in the soil. The soils in ancient woodlands are rich in nutrients and have preserved their natural layers over the centuries. Such soils are home to microbes, fungi and insects that have developed without the assistance of chemicals or disturbance of human activity. When allowed to thrive, these ecosystems provide a learning ground that science can only begin to discover and understand.