Research Into On Going Issue With Our Woodlands.

savecannockchase.org.uk
The best place to start to understand the issues that surround our woodlands is as close to home as possible so for me the most major forested area is Cannock Chase. Having already been an done some photographic work there during the past few months I felt I still need to understand more about what if any on going issues there is in the area. One of the major concerns seem to have been the governments plans to sell off Forestry Commission lands which would have include areas within the chase. One thing that people love about the chase is that you're pretty much free to roam where you please as long as you do in a responsible way. If these government plans came into force this freedom would be lost as these sold lands would become closed to the public and in all likely hood would be cleared and redeveloped. In the long view the good news is that they appear to be relaxing there view on this process so with any luck we'll be roaming the forest for many years to come yet.


Reintroduction of native species to British Woodlands e.g Wild Boor in the New Forest.
Alot has been made over the years of plans to reintroduce lost native species back into our woodlands. Some re introductions people have no arguments or concerns with such as populations of Red Squirrels into pockets in northern England where the grey's will not be able to populate, then on the other hand you have the more disputed issue of Wild Boor. Some argue that there dangerous other say they are destroying the forest, on the other side of the argument you'll hear people saying they help the spread of seed and the overall health of the forest in a far more nature way then any other form of management can. I think personal what this comes down to is good management by the forestry commission of the population as they already do with the many herds of deer they over see, if there numbers are kept controlled then they shouldn't feel the need to spread onto farmland which is another concern for locals and so stay in there woodland homes.


Clearing of Woodland for redevelopment.
With an ever growing population the pressure for housing is becoming ever higher and some areas in particular seem to be in the sights of developers more often then not. Woodland often seems the easy target especially when near to already populated areas and within easy access of major transport links such as the motorways or train lines. When woodland is cleared it isn't just the trees which we lose its all the life which rely on them to survive that goes with it.


New Woodlands being planted on unused farmland e.g creation of the National Forest in Staffordshire.
On the plus side we maybe losing woodland in some areas but locally to me a massive new woodland is growing even now. Over the passed 20 years or so the National Forest has been leasing unused farmland and planting masses of native species throughout Staffordshire creating the largest new forest in the country. It'll be another decade or more before we really some of this forest really take hold but at least in part its a start in replacing alot of what has already been lost in a country that at one time was mostly covered in one giant wild wood.


Loss of native tree species dew to disease e.g Ash Dieback.
See previous post on subject. In the coming months we'll begin to see really how many trees we've lost to this foreign invader.