Road and airport expansion are threatening ancient woods on an unprecedented scale. The Government, trying to address the problems facing transport in the UK, are planning to expand massively the road building programme and are favouring large scale airport expansion. The Woodland Trust is actively campaigning against these developments.

In 2002 the Government announced a set of proposals for expanding airports in the UK. The vast majority of these would have damaged significant areas of ancient woodland. Having ignored the concerns of environmentalists the Government then produced a White Paper on air transport which, if implemented, will cause widespread destruction of irreplaceable habitats. For more detailed information and maps on how the proposals would affect ancient woodland and to view our petition against the proposals go to our aviation campaign page.

Road development is the greatest current threat to ancient woods. The Trust is actively campaigning against unsustainable transport policies that would cause destruction of our irreplaceable natural habitats. 

We are also concerned about Government proposals for a new M6 toll-road.

One example of a road case we have been fighting is the Weymouth Relief Road which is proposed to destroy part of the Trust's ancient wood Two Mile Coppice - you can read more about Two Mile Coppice here.

To view more information on woods under threat including those under threat from transport development proposals please go to www.woodsunderthreat.info
 

Press releases

Over 1,000 objections to relief road Call to scrap wasteful scheme		1 December 2005
Weymouth road will make traffic worse - official Dorset County Council traffic modelling shows proposed route will result in more congestion		18 October 2005
Will Weymouth’s road spoil “green” Olympics? Relief road not part of Olympic bid		6 October 2005
New weapon launched today in fight to save UK's ancient woods and trees from destruction Woodland Trust unveils new tool for planners, environmentalists and public		15 July 2004
Trees or traffic - it's your choice help protect your ancient woods - don't drive a road through them		6 October 2004
Planes, trains and automobiles - but it's the end of the road for ancient woodland Woodland Trust angered by lack of concern for UK's rarest habitat		23 December 2003
'Environmental vandalism on a huge scale' more details on the impact of MMS proposals on ancient woods		4 July 2003

Further information:	click below
Information on the impact of airport expansion on ancient woods
Woods under threat campaign website
Response to Transport Solutions for the South Coast: a Strategy for the Future - 28th June 2002	154k

(All Woodland Trust consultation responses are available in Word format - click here)
 

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