Going, going ... Britain's vanishing woodland

John Vidal, environment editor
The Guardian,
Wednesday October 22 2008

Ancient woodland in Britain is being felled at a rate even faster than the Amazonian rainforest, according to research by the Woodland Trust. It shows that almost half of all woods in the UK that are more than 400 years old have been lost in the past 80 years and more than 600 ancient woods are now threatened by new roads, electricity pylons, housing, and airport expansion.
The report comes as the government prepares to sign a compulsory purchase order to buy several acres of Two Mile Wood outside Weymouth to build a bypass. This remnant of ancient forest, known for its association with Thomas Hardy, is one of Britain's finest bluebell woods and is full of old beech, oak and hornbeam trees. In Essex, a new runway at Stansted airport would destroy five ancient woods and damage many more.
"Ancient woodland, designated as over 400 years old in England, is the UK's equivalent of rainforest. It is irreplaceable," said Ed Pomfret, campaigns director of the trust. "It's our most valuable space for wildlife, and home to rare and threatened species. Once these woods have gone, they will never come back. They are historical treasure troves."
The rate of loss of ancient woodland is one of the fastest in the world and compares unfavourably with the Amazon. Studies suggest that the Amazon has lost 15% of its area in the past 30 years and perhaps just 2% in the previous several thousand years.
Pomfret appealed to the government for better protection of the remaining woods. "If these woods were buildings they would be protected to the highest grading."
The report says that in the last decade 26,000 hectares of ancient woodland in the UK has come under threat. Overall, only 308,000 hectares survive in Britain. Few woods are larger than 20 hectares. Nearly half of those threatened are in the south-east, with more than 30 in East Sussex. There are 243 threatened by road schemes, 216 by power lines, 106 by housing, 61 by quarrying and 45 by airport expansion.