| THE WOODLAND TRUST AND ANCIENT TREE FORUM JOINT RESPONSE TO CONNECTING WITH LONDON’S NATURE, THE MAYOR’S DRAFT BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY |
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| The Woodland Trust welcomes this opportunity to respond to the above document. The comments that follow are delivered on behalf of the United Kingdom’s leading charity solely dedicated to the conservation of native and broadleaved woodland. We achieve our purposes through a combination of acquiring woodland and sites for planting and through wider advocacy of the importance of protecting ancient woodland, enhancing its biodiversity, expanding woodland cover and increasing public enjoyment of woodland. We own over 1,100 sites across the country, covering around 18,000 hectares with a third of these located in urban areas and we have 250,000 members and supporters. The Trust and the Ancient Tree Forum (ATF) are working together in promoting the conservation of ancient trees. The ATF has always pioneered the conservation of ancient trees and is the main UK organisation concerned solely with their conservation. The ATF seeks to secure the long-term future of ancient trees through advocacy of no further avoidable loss of ancient trees, good management of ancient trees, the development of a succession of future ancient trees, and seeking to raise awareness and understanding of the value and importance of ancient trees. General Comments We welcome the development of the Mayor’s biodiversity strategy, and the proposed woods and trees strategy. It is widely recognised that Londoners attach a great deal of value to their green spaces. As development pressures increase in the South East generally and especially in London these valuable green spaces will become increasingly important for quality of life in the city. It is essential that the mayor and assembly act quickly to preserve and expand London’s scarce woodland and tree resources. London should be proud of its magnificent heritage of trees, the ancient trees and woods, garden trees and the legacy of trees from Victorian times that ornament our streets and parks. Trees and woods are a vital tool in achieving the Mayor’s vision of making London a sustainable world city. Woods and trees are essential to our sense of place providing landmarks in the city, and they can increase a community’s pride in its neighbourhood, especially where it is actively engaged in planting and caring for trees. People’s perception of their quality of life is inextricably linked to how green their environment is and new woodland creation is a cost effective way of creating valuable green spaces that provide a myriad of both environmental and social benefits. Ancient woodland: The Trust welcomes the production of this document and the fact that it is so thorough, taking into account a wide variety of views and issues. However, we are disappointed with one significant omission, that is the lack of focus on issues associated with ancient semi-natural woodland (land continuously wooded since AD1600). All semi-natural habitats are important but ancient woodland should be dealt with in more detail in the strategy than it is. Although there is a specific section on trees and woods there is no mention within this of ancient woodland, this is quite a serious omission as it is one of the most important wildlife habitats in the UK. Given the concentration in the strategy on the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) process we would expect ancient woodland to be given more recognition as this habitat plays a significant role in delivering species targets within the BAP. The 1995 UK BAP Steering Group report identifies 232 rare and threatened species associated with ancient broadleaved woodland, well over double any other semi-natural habitat. The Trust, therefore believes that ancient woodland deserves a special place in the strategy in terms of London achieving its BAP targets. London has a surprisingly high amount of ancient woodland within its boundaries and yet from a small base, nearly 19% of the capital’s ancient woodland has been cleared either for replanting or for development since 1920. Ancient woods are reservoirs of ecology, and have great cultural resonance especially within urban areas. The ‘Area of ancient semi-natural woodland in GB’ is included in Quality of Life Counts the UK Government’s indicators for sustainable development and the England Forestry Strategy commits the UK Government to review the effectiveness of existing measures for protecting ancient woodland and, if necessary, to introduce new measures protecting it. Despite this ancient woodland often does not receive the protection that it deserves. More broadly there is a need for the biodiversity strategy to state clearly and unequivocally that any loss of any semi-natural habitat within London will not be acceptable. Although the London Plan will deal with specifics, it is important in the interests of “joined-up thinking” that the Biodiversity Strategy recognises the value of semi-natural habitats and states that there should be no further loss of them in London. The Trust would also like to see a commitment to survey the quality of London’s woodland resource as a whole. There is a need for recognition of the impact of public pressure on London’s woods and we would like to see a commitment from the Mayor and the GLA to promote good management of these woods to help them better cope with this pressure. Protection of ancient and mature trees: The Trust is working with the ATF to protect ancient trees, of which there are many in London including several nationally important concentrations such as Kensington Palace Gardens, Osterley Park, Epping Forest, and Scadbury Park. One of the biggest threats to ancient trees is the lack of future generations of trees to replace them when they die. Many of the species linked to old trees are believed to have limited powers of dispersal and the next generation of old trees needs to be within reach. There are some limited ways of bridging the gap but the best management is to plan for future generations. Increasingly development pressures have intensified to a point where they can easily outstrip the ability of the old trees to adapt. Old and significant individual trees in London are an extremely important part of our cultural and landscape heritage. They resonate with the history of the landscape and form important markers in the lives of individual people and communities. Trees also make an important contribution to the urban environment both in visual terms and in terms of helping to abate air pollution and create oxygen, acting as a lung for the city. The UK Sustainable Development Strategy identifies within its section ‘Building Sustainable Communities’ a ‘need to improve open space and wildlife habitats in and around our towns and cities.’2 There is a real need in London to ensure that the ancient tree heritage that is currently so rich is continued in a sustainable way so that future generations will be able to enjoy the benefits of ancient trees after the current specimens are gone. The ATF would therefore like to see all such trees recognised as historical and cultural monuments, scheduled under TPOs and highlighted in London Boroughs’ UDPs so they are properly valued in planning decision-making. We would also wish to see them made as accessible as possible to local communities so that they can enjoy them to their full potential. Trees and woodland strategy: The Trust supports the development of a detailed trees and woodland strategy for London (Proposal 24). However, we would like to suggest that the Woodland Trust has a contribution to make both in framing the strategy and in implementing aspects of it. Although we currently only own five woods within the GLA area covering around 75 hectares we do have over 45 woods within five miles of the M25, a third of our sites nationally are urban woodland, and we recently completed a project to create 200 new woods in England close to centres of population. The Trust has good links with the organisations already mentioned in relation to production of the strategy, and indeed we are partners in the London Trees Manifesto, however, we feel that we have expertise and experience to contribute to the development of a strategy and would like to be recognised and involved as partners in the process. New Woodland Creation: The Woodland Trust would like to see more recognition in the strategy of the value of new woodland in creating valuable areas of urban green space in the London. Trees and woodland warrant a special place in relation to enhancement of the urban environment. They play host to a spectacular variety of wildlife, provide opportunities for recreation, ameliorate pollution, generate oxygen, help to stabilise the soil, and provide us with renewable resources including raw materials and shelter. Of particular value to the urban environment is the role that they play in helping to clean the air, trapping dust, reducing storm water run off, reducing noise and pollution, and helping to reduce asthma levels. Less tangible but crucial to individuals from an emotional and recreational standpoint is their role in enhancing the local landscape and providing a tranquil environment for spiritual renewal. There is a growing awareness of the linkage between healthy communities and the quality of the environment. Hospital recovery rates for example, show significantly faster recovery where patients had a view of trees and woodland from their hospital window.3 The National Urban Forestry Unit’s report Trees Matter provides an excellent summary of the benefits of trees and woods in towns and cities. It notes the role of stress as a highly significant factor in the health of urban Britain and points to the “ample anecdotal evidence that people feel better in green, leafy surroundings and many seek solace amongst trees and woodland…Urban residents suffering from stress have been known to experience less anger, sadness and insecurity when viewing well treed surroundings as opposed to landscapes devoid of greenery.”4 The report of the Urban Task Force stated that we “need to address the idea of the ecologically sensitive city in which humans recognise that they cohabit with nature. Trees, woodland and other green space are all important in fostering biodiversity, in enhancing human health and well being and reducing noise and pollution.”5 This recommendation is an often-overlooked part of the report and we hope that London can take this concept on board and lead the way by acting on it. Organisations such as the Woodland Trust, Trees for London, the National Urban Forestry Unit and Groundwork can play a major role in working with communities to deliver innovative and creative urban landscape design. It has been the Trust’s experience from our Woods on your Doorstep project, involving the creation of 200 new woods, that there is a genuine appetite for such involvement and that such schemes provide local communities with the opportunity for a real stake in improving their local landscape. Energy and Climate Change: We agree with the assertion in the strategy that “The role of trees and woodlands in London in fixing atmospheric carbon dioxide (i.e. as a carbon sink) is likely to be minor” (paragraph 3.25); this should not be the main driver for increasing woodland cover in London. Instead we would like to see strong emphasis on the multi-purpose aspects of woodland in an urban setting including the role that woodland can play in energy provision in the capital. There is a huge timber resource available in woods and waste timber that could be used for energy generation. The Forestry Commission initiated study An Evaluation of Market Outlets for Broadleaved Timber in South–East England (1998) sought to identify potential uses for up to 200,000 tonnes a year of low-grade broadleaved roundwood in the South East. We believe that wood fuel is a prime candidate for use of this and other low-grade timber throughout the UK and in London. There will be a constant and renewable supply of forestry residues that can be used immediately. This would have the benefits of providing a more sustainable, largely carbon neutral form of energy, would reinvigorate the UK’s timber market and would reduce the environmental impact of disposal of timber waste and forest residues. There are also potential environmental benefits over and above those provided by other sources of renewable energy. For example, much of the broadleaf woodland in the South East of England has traditionally been managed on some form of coppice system. A diverse array of plants and animals has survived in these woods over the centuries because they thrive on the conditions created by this management system. Interruption of the coppice cycle as a result of market collapse for small diameter timber has led to a rapid ecological decline of many these woods. For example the heath fritillary butterfly requires the open sunny habitats produced by coppicing to breed. As coppice grows the area becomes more and more unsuitable for the butterfly and it moves on. Its number has declined by over 90% in the last 30 years primarily due to a reduction in the amount of coppicing being practised. Development of renewable energy systems based upon low grade, small diameter coppice would not only reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, but would have the additional benefit of helping to halt the ecological decline of one of our most important habitats in areas where traditional woodland management has taken place in the past. Gardens: The Trust welcomes the recognition of the role that gardens have to play in delivering wildlife benefits to London, but we believe that this should be stated more strongly. We would strongly support the production of a strategy within the Biodiversity Strategy to improve the wildlife value of London’s gardens. Gardens are often very similar in make up to the habitat that can be found on woodland edges, with a mixture of trees, shrubs and open ground and as a result they have a significant role to play in supporting woodland wildlife. This is true across the country where gardens are already playing an increasingly important role in hostile agricultural landscape, but is even more relevant in London, given the inhospitality to wildlife of much of the built environment and also the fact that gardens take up a one-fifth of the land area in the city. Woodland edge is an incredibly rich and diverse part of the woodland habitat; many of the 232 woodland species identified within the UK BAP are species that live in the woodland edge or open woodland. By promoting the use of native trees and shrubs within gardens, the construction of ponds for wildlife, sensitive lawn care regimes, sensitive use of chemicals and the creation of uncut “rough” areas in the corners of gardens, we can greatly improve the prospects for wildlife generally, and some woodland species in particular, across the city. If nothing is done about the use of invasive exotic plants, green lawn herbicide, slug pellets, and other activities that create a hostile habitat for wildlife, species will find space as limited in London as in parts of the countryside where high intensity agriculture has removed their habitats. The Trust would like to see wildlife gardening strategies focussing in the first instance on areas where densities of ancient woodland and other semi-natural habitats are highest to contribute to the beginnings of landscape scale ecology and buffering and expanding habitats. If this is undertaken in association with mowing regimes of the parks that are more sympathetic to wildlife, as suggested, then the percentage cover of wildlife friendly habitat in the city could be significantly increased. Specific comments We welcome the recognition in the strategy that London’s environment includes important and extensive areas of woodland (paragraph 1.1) and the detailed assessment of the area and distribution of woodland in the capital (paragraph 2.7, Figure 2). We also welcome the recognition here of the uneven distribution of this resource. Paragraph 2.7: we would like to see the value of old growth and dead wood recognised in the strategy. The value of stag beetles is recognised but there is no connection made with its habitat – stag beetle larvae mature in deadwood and this habitat is critical to its existence. The presence of stag beetles within London suggests that there is a large and un-audited resource of old growth, ancient trees and dead wood habitat. A full audit should be undertaken of these habitats so that they can be adequately protected and proper management plans developed. The statement that London’s bats have undergone a significant decline over the past decade (paragraph 2.41) indicates that there may have been some loss of woodland habitat as most bat species in the UK are associated with woodland / open woodland habitats. The Woodland Trust strongly supports the statement in paragraph 2.55 that “the Strategy aims to maintain and increase access to natural greenspace”. We would be interested in any work that the Mayor and GLA are planning to undertake on this, as the Trust is currently conducting its own research project to develop targets for urban woodland creation targeted specifically on areas that currently have a lack of green space and are suffering from health and wealth depravation. The conclusions of this study may be of interest to the Mayor and GLA and we would welcome dialogue as our work develops. We would like to see stronger recognition in paragraph 3.23 of the links between woodland and improved air quality as ‘In Chicago trees have been shown to remove 10.8 tonnes of PM10s on an average summer’s day’ 6 and in the Greenwood Community Forest, Nottingham, it is estimated that the woodland reduces concentrations of SO2 and NO2 in the air by 4%-5% 7. Shade provided by trees inhibits the formation of smog zones and reduces the risk of skin cancer. These are significant benefits that trees and woodland can contribute to the urban environment acting as lungs for the city and we believe that this benefit should be more clearly recognised in addition to the biodiversity benefits of this habitat. Paragraph 3.25: the Trust would like to see climate change addressed more fully in this strategy. This is not just an issue about energy use and provision, it is also about the impact that climate change will have on biodiversity. The strategy should recognise that London must develop adaptive strategies for its wildlife in the face of rapid climate change. This is essential given the constraints of an urban environment, as ideally we would like to see large-scale habitat creation to help to support less mobile species as the climate changes. In London an adaptive strategy should include a detailed and up-to-date assessment of the city’s semi-natural habitats and strategies for the promotion of wildlife gardening to help to buffer and extend these habitats (see general comments section on gardens above). Proposal 1: the Trust and the ATF strongly support this proposal. We would like to see the wording of paragraph 4.7 extended to state that there will be no net damage to important wildlife habitats. It is important that important wildlife habitats such as ancient semi-natural woodland and ancient trees are not only protected from actual loss, but also protected from degradation through bad practice and neglect. Proposal 4: the Trust would like to see specific mention of ancient woodland in this proposal given the fact that it contains more rare and threatened species than any other habitat. We are disappointed that the section on trees and woods (paragraphs 4.48-4.50) does not include a detailed summary of the ancient woodland resource in London and proposals to protect it. As stated in the section on ancient woodland above there is a strong argument for specific recognition of the value of this resource in this section. We would also like to see clear targets for protection and sensitive management of ancient woodland included here. Appendix 3 - Lowland mixed broadleaf has now been agreed as a BAP habitat and the Habitat Action Plan (HAP) is now in draft. We would like to see this development included in the section on HAPs. 50% of the species identified in the national priority species list for London are associated with woodland / woodland edge habitats these are: dormouse, pipistrelle bat, tree sparrow, turtle dove, bullfinch, song thrush, spotted flycatcher, great crested newt, buttoned snout moth, double lined moth, stag beetle, southern wood ant, cranefly and juniper. We would like to see the links between these species and woodland more explicitly recognised in this part of the strategy. Notes 1 DETR (1999) Quality of Life Counts: indicators for sustainable development (Indicator S11) 2 DETR (1999) A Better Quality of Life; a strategy for sustainable development in the UK, para. 7.66 3 Ulrich, R.S. (1984) “View Through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery”, Science Journal 224, pp.420-421 4 National Urban Forestry Unit (1998) Trees Matter; the benefits of trees and woods in towns, p.6 5 Urban Task Force (1999) Towards an Urban Renaissance, p 43 6 NUFU (1998) Trees Matter! The benefits of trees & woods in towns, p.5 7 Broadmeadow, M.S.J. & Freer-Smith, P.H. (1996) Urban Woodland and the Benefits for Local Air Quality
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