Natural Capital Asset Presentations. Ecological Woodland Communities

Transcription

1 Natural Capital Asset Presentations - Ecological Woodland Communities

2 Natural Capital Asset Woodlands Tristan Galletly, Forestry Commission, Woodland Officer Peak District Area, Derbyshire, West and South Notts.

3 Component definition Woodland - NFI Woodland definition For the purpose of this mapping exercise woodland is defined as land with: Canopy cover: The land must have either 20% tree canopy cover or the potential to achieve 20% canopy cover (e.g. new plantings and/or areas of natural regeneration). Areas of young trees, which have the potential to achieve a canopy cover of more than 20%, will be interpreted as woodland and mapped. Area: A minimum area of 0.5 ha under stands of trees with, or with the potential to achieve, Tree crown cover of 20% of the ground. A minimum area of 0.5 ha will be mapped for open areas where the space is surrounded by canopy cover as defined above. Width: The minimum width for woodland is 20 m, although where a woodland includes a narrow neck of woodland less than 20 m wide, the neck may be included if less than 20 m in distance between.

4 Component definition contd. Broadleaved woodland definition: This is the land as already detailed which is made up of broadleaved species, coppice and mixed woodland that is mainly (>50%) Broadleaved species. AWI definition: Ancient woods are those woods which English Nature believes have been in existence since at least 1600 AD and have only been cleared for underwood or timber production. Some ancient woods are primary woods, i.e. they are on sites which have been continuously wooded since the last glaciation, while others are ancient secondary woods, i.e. they have developed on open land prior to 1600 AD. It is difficult to differentiate the two and this has not been attempted in the ancient woodland inventory project.

5 Component quantity Component Measure Unit of measure Woodland All Woodland Ancient Woodland Broadleaved Woodland Land with more than 20% tree canopy cover. (areas >0.5ha and 20m wide) Ancient woods are those woods which English Nature believes have been in existence since at least 1600 AD and have only been cleared for underwood or timber production. (Areas >2ha) Total Hectares Hectares Quantity in LNP 44,057ha (LEP) 7,701ha (LEP) 27,357ha (LEP)

6 Spatial distribution MAP 4 Insert Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire (LEP) spatial map

7 Spatial distribution MAP 5 Insert Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire (LEP) spatial map

8 Issues 1. National Forest Inventory is a good national dataset which is monitored and revised on a regular basis. A valuable tool for use at a local level to help target woodland initiatives. 2. Forestry Commission at a local level are using NFI to help focus getting Woodlands into Management, Targeting Countryside Stewardship delivery, Tree Health research, 3. Ancient Woodland Inventory. Fairly robust data set recognised nationally and used to target EWGS/Countryside Stewardship. Shortfalls include: Woods under 2ha are missing and there are many woods with showing strong signs of being Ancient Woodland Sites that are not included in the inventory. 4. Focus for local work on AWI could follow up from Derbyshire s project to map AW sites that are <2ha for the rest of LEP boundary.