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The
Ancient Tree Forum welcomes the publication of this consultation
document.
Background
Commons are often
important areas for ancient trees. Many are actually well-wooded while
others have more localised, especially fringing, ancient trees. These
ancient trees tend to have been managed as pollards in the past –
the trees having been managed sustainably, with branchwood being
periodically cut from above the reach of the grazing livestock as a
source of:
- leaf and bark fodder for livestock
when other forage is scarce;
- fencing poles, to help maintain the
common boundary;
- firewood.
These sustainable uses
of the tree cover have created distinctive ancient pollards which are
now recognised as having many interests – historical, cultural,
aesthetic and for wildlife.
Changing agricultural
practices have however meant that few of these ancient trees are now
maintained and that few new trees are established as new generations
of pollards.
Some of our ancient
wooded commons are now recognised as being of major nature
conservation value, eg Ebernoe Common in Sussex and Bookham Common in
Surrey. The national significance of such sites has been recognised by
their designation as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. However,
the SSSI series is only a representative sample, and many important
wooded commons remain unprotected by this means.
The value of such
ancient tree sites is largely attributable to the continuity and
succession of generations of trees over long periods, within a stable
and slowly evolving landscape. This has enabled interdependent
wildlife communities to become established with a highly significant
potential for specialised adaptation, often leading to rarity and
species diversity.
Even the large upland
commons of the north and west often contain significant numbers of
ancient pollard trees around their fringes. The pollards of the Lake
District National Park are widely recognised for their importance, but
other areas similarly hold importance reserves of ancient pollards,
e.g. Dartmoor National Park.
As our appreciation
and understanding of the value of ancient trees on commons (and
elsewhere) has increased in recent years so has the realisation that
many of our commons are of European importance for their ancient trees
and their associated wildlife values.
Comments on
consultation document
The Ancient Tree
Forum's main concern is that the consultation paper focuses very much
on the issue of overgrazing. Overgrazing is certainly damaging to any
woody cover and we would support initiatives targeted at a reduction
of such damage.
However, we believe
that the paper should also address the following issues:
- the maintenance and protection of
existing ancient pollard trees;
- the establishment of new pollards.
- the future development of woody
cover and
- the defragmentation of old tree
habitat and linkage between sites
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