Wilder Future Fund: Woodlands (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wryZxBT48YE)
C. Holly Wilkinson
Our Woodlands Need You
Woodlands are one of our most evocative habitats. The light, sounds, smells, temperature – everything changes when you walk amongst the trees. They convey a sense of peace and that feeling can have a profound impact on our wellbeing.
Individual trees can also hold deep meaning for us, whether they are iconic specimens such as the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest and the, sadly now felled, Sycamore Gap tree, or your favourite tree in your local park. Trees and woodlands are special for a variety of reasons.
Many of the Trust’s ancient woodlands like Hayley, Gamlingay and Brampton are mentioned in the Doomsday Book and have been around for a thousand years or more. This means they have an incredibly rich collection of plants, fungi, and animals, all connected and vital for each other’s survival.
But we could be in danger of taking their long, rich history for granted; the threats they face today are as great as they have ever been.
Ash dieback disease is having a serious and long-lasting impact. Up to 80% of the trees in some of our woods are ash and it is likely every tree is now infected and dead or dying. Elm disease still takes a toll on mature trees annually; oak, aspen and horse chestnut are also threatened by their own diseases.
Through early detection, the spread of some diseases can be slowed or prevented, and our woods can diversify with other native species such as birch, alder and small-leaved lime.
By supporting a Wilder Future for Woodlands you can help ensure our woods remain vibrant, wildlife-rich and tree covered, even if some species decline.
Wilder Future Fund
A Wilder Future for our Woodlands
The Wilder Future Fund is an ambitious effort to raise £500,000 a year over the next three years - £1.5 million to help nature recover across our three counties.
With your support, we're already doing so much, but our woodlands are in vital need of more help.
Focusing on three critical areas, the aim is to:
- Put nature into recovery
- Help communities take action for wildlife
- Work on nature-based solutions for a changing climate
Hazel dormouse © Terry Whittaker/2020VISION
A long-standing love of dormice
The common, or hazel, dormouse, is an intriguing and elusive small mammal. Due to their rarity and specific habitat requirements, dormice are considered a flagship species for woodland conservation, as well as being bio-indicators of habitat condition. Our Brampton Wood reserve was the first reintroduction site for dormice in the UK, back in 1993 and volunteers such as Kevin Doyle have been monitoring them ever since.
Inspiring beacon of renewal in Bedfordshire
Hay Wood’s renewal is rooted in community spirit. Where football pitches once stood now grow hornbeam, oak, hazel, rowan, hawthorn and birch trees, thanks to Wilder Futures, Wilder Luton, and TCV’s “I Dig Trees” initiatives. Tree-planting days have become community highlights; volunteers who remember playing football here now help shape its future. Last year’s focus was planning a wildlife-friendly hedge linking Hay Wood to Bradgers Hill. This winter, Communities and Education Manager Matt Sutcliffe, the local community and students from Barnfield College will return to Hay to plant even more trees.
Woodland ride pre-reprofiling, Waresley & Gransden Wood by Sian Williams
Wet winters impacting our woodlands
The long, wet winters have turned many woodland rides into muddy quagmires over the winter, resulting in the closures and restricting access, much to the dismay of visitors. At Waresley and Gransden Woods a new solution has been implemented: widening the rides. Though initially messy, this method removes a strip of woodland to expand their width and profiling them to be higher in the middle. Rides become drier for visitors and delicate plants at the edges are protected from being squashed as people try to avoid the muddy middle.
Wilder Future Fund
Why people like you are donating to this cause
This donation is in memory of my good friend Alastair Robertson.£51 + £12.75 Gift Aid
The Trust is creating a community where everyone's contribution, however small, whether financial or voluntary, is essential and valued.£11 +£2.75 Gift Aid
More Wilder Future Fund Donations
You can be sure your money will go towards helping nature recover and achieve the vision of more nature everywhere.
Donations from the appeal will be classified as unrestricted and used by the Wildlife Trust BCN to achieve its charitable purposes, progressing work to restore wildlife, recover landscapes and engage communities.
