An exciting woodland conservation project for Berkshire was awarded funding from the Natural England Countdown 2010 programme. The aim over the next few years is to work with woodland owners and managers to improve the management and condition of the vast areas of semi-natural ancient woodland across the county.

The ‘Be Wild’ (Berkshire Woodland Improvements Linked with bioDiversity) project aims to enhance and restore the remnants of semi-natural woodlands in Berkshire. It is a partnership project between Pang, Kennet and Lambourn Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire FWAG, and the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (TVERC).

The project came about as information collated by the Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) showed a general lack of progress in the management of privately owned woodlands in Berkshire. The ‘Be Wild’ project aims to provide advice and assist actual management of woodlands to bring them back into favourable condition and establish links to promote sustainable management through the resurgence of options such as coppice products and wood fuel that could help make management more sustainable and enhance biodiversity in the main Berkshire Biodiversity Opportunity Areas (BOA).  We want to also tie in with hedgerow management, showing the links between woodland and the landscape, and providing habitat buffers and corridors linking the woods.

One of the key areas for TVERC involvement is to work with local groups and recorders to survey these woods for a range of wildlife including bats, woodland birds, mammals, butterflies and flora and to assess which sites would be most suitable for bird and bat boxes and possibly dormouse boxes.

Additional training and practical experience for volunteers will be provided in traditional skills such as coppicing, hedgelaying, tree felling, tree planting and biological surveying.

For further information contact Pang, Kennet and Lambourn FWAG or TVERC.