The Woodland Trust has a strong vision to create 15,000 hectares of woodland a year throughout the UK for the next 50 years – something to which we are fully committed and believe is achievable. The UK’s irreplaceable ancient woodland – the jewel in our natural crown and our richest wildlife habitat – remains under threat from development and degradation, and most of the surviving woodland is fragmented into small isolated pockets. By creating new woodland around these unique habitats we can ‘buffer’ against immediate threats and allow species to operate over a wider area; eventually bringing some of this rich diversity into the new planting. We have decades of woodland creation experience, having planted over 11 million trees, and our experience has proved that even planting trees on bare land, not connected to existing woodland, we can create vibrant woods abundant in flora and fauna, and provide new homes for wildlife in as little as 12 years.
At sites throughout the UK we are increasing native tree cover by planting lots of trees and transforming areas into thriving woodland creating new homes for wildlife, and we have also encouraged and helped people to create woodland on their own land. But, we fully realise that we can’t do this alone. Without the generosity of our supporters we cannot start to significantly increase the number of trees planted today and create the woodland heritage of tomorrow. With your help we can do so much more.
Benefits for Wildlife
In the 20th century 150 species died out in the UK and of these almost 50, such as the mouse-eared bat and the black-veined white butterfly, were associated with native woodland. Today, creatures such as the dormouse, heath fritillary butterfly and the song thrush are endangered. By creating new native woodland alongside existing wildlife habitats, we can connect our fragmented landscape and help species to move freely throughout their natural surroundings. When new land is planted with native saplings an ecosystem soon starts to develop. As the trees grow, insects are attracted to the leaves during the summer months, which in turn provide food for breeding birds and those preparing for autumn migration. Trees and shrubs provide bumper crops of seed attracting siskins, goldfinches, chaffinches and redpolls. As the woodland matures, other species which feed in the wider countryside such as rooks and grey herons, will use the wood for nesting in the late winter months.