Saving Veteran Trees

The Woodland Trust have a new management plan for Core Hill Woods, which includes a project to save the existing veteran trees, and to also create veteran trees of the future – part of an exciting project funded by East Devon National Landscape’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (FiPL).

Particular to these woods are the veteran beech trees along the hedge banks, the stools of which are sometimes up to 400 years old. These coppice trees would have been 18^th & 19^th Century hedgerows planted for firewood and enclosure boundaries when the hill was grazed up until about 1850. When the grazing finished the land quickly returned to woodland. All of the new trees that grew up are now of a similar age and are shading out the highly valued veteran trees along the hedgerows. The woodland has an unnatural characteristic where there are only two ages of trees with little diversity of age in between. The woodland canopy has enclosed, forcing the veteran trees to stretch up for light making them more likely to die due to lack of light and instability.

Apart from their aesthetic appeal, these veteran trees are hugely important for a mix of wildlife. Their complex structure, including decaying heartwood, crevices and holes for nesting birds, fissured bark and rot holes all form a complex ecosystem for a wide range of species to shelter and feed within. The aging tree hosts multiple fungal organisms, beetles, bats and birds. A woodland without veteran trees loses out on its biodiversity. So the Woodland Trust are creating space for the ageing relics, halo-thinning around them, and carrying out recommendations by arboricultural experts to ensure they survive for many more years to come.

The second part of the Woodland Trust’s project is to create future veteran trees. Veteranisation is an alternative to felling younger trees which would otherwise have to be removed as they are shading the existing veterans. Using different cuts and interventions they can enhance the onset of decay within the crown of younger trees.

Knowing that this could be perceived curiously, two Woodland Trust site managers led a fascinating guided walk through the wood to explain the project. Veteranisation of trees is a recent technique used to generate veteran trees of the future. This means clearing a halo around a suitable tree by felling nearby trees, enabling more light and space for them to grow. At the same time features are built into some of the younger trees that will help them evolve into a more complex structure in the future e.g. pollarding, thus generating new habitats for the wildlife. Some healthy trees are felled. The majority of these are Turkey Oaks, which are non-native and have adverse effects on the native oak population.

The Woodland Trust officers explained there is a lack of deadwood within the woodland. In the past some of this deadwood would have been created by the actions of large herbivores such as bison and now extinct mammoths and elephants. The Woodland Trust are replenishing the deadwood by actions such as felling trees and leaving them on the ground. Also, turkey oaks have been ring barked with a chainsaw to purposefully kill the tree slowly, leaving it standing to create vertical deadwood structures. A dead tree is a valuable habitat and home to many creatures such as woodpeckers and Bechstein’s bats. Another technique that has been employed in the wood to create the complex veteran trees of the future, are simulated lightning strikes down the tree trunk. Holes have been created for nesting birds, bird boxes cut into the tree, and lower sections of the trunk gouged out to create rotting areas near the base. Many of the trees selected for this treatment would have otherwise been felled in order to let the light in. By allowing them time to decay they will add richness to the woodland ecosystem.

The interventions of the Woodland Trust over the next few years will add significantly to the biodiversity and the character of a popular and valued woodland. I came back from the guided walk with a much deeper appreciation of these woodlands. I recommend you visit the wood and with an open mind appreciate how this type of woodland can be managed. The Woodland Trust will be running other guided walks in Core Hil Woods in the future.

Charles Sinclair