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The woodlands of Britain will become almost impenetrable in future,
following the announcement of new rules on grants for landowners who plant
trees. For many new woodlands the government will pay full grants only where
2250 trees are planted per hectare, more than twice the existing requirement
of 1100 trees. This could lead to a reduction in the biological diversity
of woods and prevent the growth of plants such as bluebells and primroses.

The results of a wide-ranging review of forestry policy announced by
the Scottish Secretary Ian Lang revealed a move towards higher productivity
and profitability in the nation’s forests. This reverses a recent trend
towards ‘multi-purpose forests’, open to visitors and beneficial to wildlife.

Lang announced last month that, in an effort to improve the quality
of timber from broad-leaved woodland, ‘we will require a higher stocking
density in order to qualify for the full rate of grant’. Trees are currently
planted about 3 metres apart. This will now be reduced to just over 2 metres,
although there will be some exceptions ‘for small woodlands and the planting
of native species’, where the old limit will still apply.

According to Keith Kirby, forestry specialist at English Nature, which
advises the government on conservation, trees planted closer together grow
fewer low branches, and so have fewer knots, increasing the value of the
timber. But, he says, ‘conservation generally requires low density of planting
since it allows natural regeneration to fill the gaps’. Dense planting also
shades the ground earlier, reducing the chances for plants of the woodland
floor to grow.

The new grant could make it harder for the government to fulfil promises
to cover parts of England in new broad-leaved forests as part of the Community
and National Forest initiatives of the past five years. According to Susan
Bell, head of the unit at the Countryside Commission in charge of the National
Forest in the Midlands, under the new arrangements ‘we will have to plant
more trees to meet our coverage targets’.

‘The government may say that it retains the ideal of multipurpose forests,’
says Ben Plowden, head of land use at the Council for the Protection of
Rural England, ‘but what exactly can you do in a double density forest apart
from grow trees?’

The planting of conifers which has been in sharp decline, partly because
of environmental objections was given what Lang described as ‘a major boost’
through increased grants.