Why Do We Cut Down Trees?

Woodland restoration is a process that requires a long-term plan and no short measure of patience. Beneficial changes to habitats don’t happen overnight; nature needs time to react when the Fingle conservation management puts opportunities on offer. Sometimes that time appears to drag, but there are moments when all that hard work is justified … when you find something that wasn’t there before. A chink of light. A glimpse of the future.

During the first year of the restoration work a strip of conifers was cut back along the riverside. This immediately opened up the shadowy gloom that shrouded the track. Back then, the conifers were only going to get taller and shadier, so this work was intended to let the sunlight in – the first basic rule of restoration. In the six years since, people have walked the riverside track in their thousands, and many photos have captured the brightening scenes of optimism. That forestry operation back in 2014 was an inciteful first step. As a result, there have been several species spotted along the trackside over the last few years including the first sightings of pearl bordered fritillaries, greater numbers of songbirds (including blackcap and chiffchaff) and ancient woodland flowers appearing where they haven’t been seen for decades.

Video - A Scrubby Woodland EdgeEven in the depths of winter, we are seeing more and more evidence that moving away from the single species conifer crop towards a more diverse and healthier habitat is giving us lots of hope for the future, and it’s worth the wait. It is a perfect demonstration of why we cut down trees … and the positive news is, there is a lot more to come.by Matt Parkins