Not all tree cutting is bad. You should bear in mind that sometimes felling and other tree work is carried out for beneficial reasons, such as:

• Coppicing: an old management technique in which trees are cut to ground level, allowing them to re-grow from the base. This opens up woodland areas temporarily, allowing flowers and other wildlife to flourish, as well as providing a sustainable supply of wood.
• Pollarding: another old management technique in which the trees are cut regularly at about two metres, allowing them to re-grow from this point. This system provided fodder, fuel or building materials in the past and often extended the life of the tree.
• Thinning: removing a proportion of trees in a wood leaving those remaining more room to grow or felling blocks of trees within a managed wood.
• Removal of non-native trees which have been planted in an ancient wood to enable native trees to be planted or to grow naturally.
• Felling trees planted inappropriately on other valuable habitats such as upland bogs, moorland and lowland heath or trees that have seeded naturally onto important habitat, such as heathland or flower-rich grassland. Conservation policy now seeks to restore such sites, and the Trust supports this type of work.
• Felling or tree surgery for genuine safety reasons near roads, buildings or within public areas such as parks.

A threat need not involve tree felling. Activities which damage the fragile woodland ecosystem can also threaten the long-term survival or conservation value of a wood. Over-grazing or inappropriate uses such as off-road activity by motorcycles or four-wheel drive vehicles can destroy the ground flora, shrub layer and young saplings or damage soils. Activities on adjacent or nearby land may cause ground, noise or light pollution or alter the ground hydrology.

Individual big, old trees are affected by construction and other activities which may be some distance from the tree, but which damage the root system through compaction, pollution, cutting through roots or calls for the canopy to be reduced.

If you feel that felling or some other activity is threatening the survival of the tree or wood, there are a number of avenues for you to pursue. Since felling and development usually require permission of one kind or another, or the wood/tree may be protected, the first step is to check that the activity is taking place legally. This guide will help you find out how to do this.

See the Woodland Trust’s guides on woodland conservation practice here or contact the Trust’s central office on 01476 581111.

• Identifying ancient woodland
   
• Identifying ancient trees