Threat to 250 woods
Rare sites are facing chop to make way for development
NEARLY 250 ancient woods in Scotland are under threat from built development, it was disclosed yesterday, as the number across the UK topped 1,000 for the first time since records began.
Figures released by the charity Woodland Trust indicate it is aware of 1,064 ancient woodlands at risk of damage or destruction – the highest number since it began compiling such data in 1999.
There are 244 at-risk woods identified north of the Border, including three areas of ancient woodland in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, that the Trust warns will be lost if the controversial EuroPark development of more than 2,500 new homes between the M8 and the town is given the green light.
The Trust has seen 506 ancient woods throughout Scotland threatened since 1999. Some 173 have suffered loss or damage, while 89 woods have been saved.
George Anderson, of Woodland Trust Scotland, said: ‘Just as everyone is grasping the importance of creating more woodland to counter the climate emergency, we must not drop the ball on the woods we already have.
‘Ancient woods are rare, precious and irreplaceable yet we are chipping away at them.’
Ancient woods are defined as areas of woodland that have continued to exist on maps since 1600 in England and Wales, and since 1750 in Scotland. They cover only 2.4 per cent of the UK but, relatively undisturbed by human development, are home to unique and communities of plants, fungi, insects and other microorganisms that have become established over centuries.
Of the 1,064 woodlands at present under threat, some 801 are subject to ‘live planning applications’, while the remaining 263 are included in various council site allocation plans – areas outlined for development such as housing, business or leisure use.
Site allocations form the main threat, followed by housing, utilities, railways, roads, agriculture and leisure or sport.
Scotland’s 244 threatened woods include 231 live planning applications and 13 site allocations. They include ancient woods in Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, threatened by a proposal for 36 houses, and woodland in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, where mature trees could be removed in order to make way for a car park.
The biggest single development project threatening ancient woods in the UK is the planned highspeed HS2 railway. The Woodland Trust says at least 108 ancient woods will be lost or damaged by the project in its present form.
The Trust – the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK, with more than 500,000 supporters – has already recorded 800 ancient woods that have suffered loss or damage from development since 1999.