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The call for increasing woodland cover in Britain is growing ever louder, and new woodland can make a real contribution to the conservation of wildlife characteristic of woodland and its associated habitats. New woodland also benefits people in a variety of ways, which include health and well-being. This book presents a comprehensive and richly-illustrated guide to the principles and practice of woodland creation for wildlife and people in a changing climate.
The first part of the book looks at the issues underlying woodland creation and natural succession, and describes different woodland community types as model habitat targets. The variety of wildlife attracted to new woods, including birds, insects and plants, is described. The impact of climate change on woodland into the future is also explored, including coping strategies for biodiversity, and the planning and planting strategies for woodland habitat networks in the landscape.
The second part presents vital practical information, covering essential topics from the planning and selection of sites, selecting tree species and sourcing of seeds to woodland design and management, including the role and design of woodland open space.
This book will appeal to all with an interest in woodland creation, including landowners, advisors, national and local conservation organisations, foresters, consultants, planners, local authorities and community groups.
Native woodland in the British landscape
Woodlands for wildlife
Woodlands for people
Woodland creation in a changing climate
Landscape planning for woodland creation
Planning a woodland creation project
Designing a new wood and selecting species to plant
Establishing new native woodland
Post-establishment management
Dr David Blakesley, CEnv, MIEEM is an ecological consultant for Wildlife Landscapes, which specialises in habitat creation and wildlife surveys.
By using this passionately driven and comprehensive guide to plan the development of canopy layers, shrubs, herbs, clearings, glades and rides, to organise species lists and design landscape strategies you, yes you, can create prosperous and rich communities of life, and frankly - what could be a finer ambition?
- Chris Packham
"Woodlands have defined the landscapes of Britain since man's first occupation. They continue to shape the lives of the inhabitants to this day, but their most significant role may yet be to come if David Blakesley and Peter Buckley are right.
This book focuses - as the title suggests - on the value of woodlands for people and wildlife, and to set it apart from the pack, in a changing climate. Although climate change is not a new phenomenon the rate at which we must adapt to the current and coming changes is almost certainly unprecedented. The role woodlands play in this adaptation forms the fundamental concept that unites the book through its two-parted, but smooth, journey from extensive background theory to the practical implication of planting woodlands.
Framing the usual discussions on ecological succession and wildlife benefits of new woodlands in the context of climate change will undoubtedly open up new audiences. But the thing that really sets this book apart from most are the discussions about people's roles in modern day woodlands and discussing what woodlands are for - and how can we get the most out of them? If we can find the right answers to these questions then we will likely see a continued rise in tree cover, and good tree cover at that, in the UK (even against the background of the proposed sell-off of half the UK's forests). Other issues explored in the book include the health and well-being benefits of woodlands, which are only just beginning to be understood and the significance of woodlands for recreation.
There are many things this book does particularly well. It's an absolute mine of information and it's hard to imagine anything you'd want to know has been omitted. In fact when reading it it's often hard to believe that so much has been crammed in to fewer than 200 pages. Everything is laid out clearly: extensive data sets float neatly alongside high quality photographs, maps, and detailed but uncomplicated text. All in all it's a very high quality publication from the start - and the delightful foreword by Chris Packham - to the glossary and species-filled finish.
This book clearly represents many years of research and as Eden has worked alongside both authors in the past it's a pleasure to see this work come to fruition in this way."
- www.plant-talk.org
"This is an extremely useful and attractively presented handbook. It is generously illustrated with many figures and 170 images in full colour. Its comprehensive coverage of the issues associated with woodland creation in Britain cannot fail to be of value to its target readership. It also appears to be well-suited as a text for Further Education and foundation degree students studying countryside planning and land management. Certainly, many insects are likely to benefit from its sound advice."
- Glenda Orledge, Antenna - Journal of the RES
"Great Britain is still one of the least forested countries in Europe and with the calls to increase wooded cover comes the need for books on how to best create woodland. This large format book should be suitable by a range of bodies looking to create as natural a forest as possible. The first half deals with the principles of why we need more wooded area, a brief survey of the main NVC woodland types, the range of possible flora and fauna, the challenges of climate change (including the knotty problem of seed provenance) and why woodlands matter so much to people. The second part is the practise, giving advice on a whole range of subjects such as how to do a vegetation survey, how to choose the right trees and other plants for an area, how to plant and, most importantly, how and what to monitor. This is a well produced large-format book with good diagrams and sound advice."
- Peter Thomas, Bulletin of the British Ecological Society 42(2), 2011
