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Farming Today: Woodland

Woodland

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Woodland

Sybil Ruscoe visits Fingle Woods in Devon, to learn about ancient woodland restoration

Sybil Ruscoe joins a team of horse-loggers in an ancient woodland in Devon.

We have about 3 million hectares of woodland across the UK, covering about 13% of the land area. It's about half and half conifers and broadleaf woodland...but just 15% of it is classed as ancient woodland. 

Fingle Woods on the northern fringes of Dartmoor National Park in Devon, is one of those rare ancient woodlands. But in the 1920s and 30s, much of it was cut down and replaced with conifer plantations. Sybil Ruscoe visits the site with the Woodland Trust's David Rickwood to learn how they are slowly restoring it to it's prime.

Along the way, she meets a team of horse-loggers using heavy horses to remove whole tree trunks from the plantations.

We also hear about plans to re-introduce pine martens in the Forest of Dean to bring down grey squirrel numbers and hear from the Forestry Commission's new writer in residence, Zakiya McKenzie.

Presented by Sybil Ruscoe
Produced by Heather Simons

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