Wildlife refuges and climate superheroes
Our ancient woods and trees are unique and irreplaceable – we can’t regrow or renew the complex biodiversity which has evolved around them over hundreds of years.
Once what little we have left is gone, it’s gone for good.
The big crowns, gnarled branches and hollow trunks of our living legends might not look like much to some, but they’re brimming with life. Bats, dormice and birds nest in their hollows, insects hide in their crevices, butterflies flutter in their canopies, and lichen and fungi cling to their branches.
Ancient and long-established woods also store 36% of the total carbon locked up in trees in the UK – despite them making up just 25% of our total woodland.