Bring back the ancient woodlands smothered beneath your timber plantations

Ancient woodlands are vanishing – and with them, some of our most loved and endangered wildlife. Over 100,000 acres of our public forests used to be ancient woodland - that’s bigger than the Isle of Wight. But instead of flourishing as rich, native wood, much of it has been turned into sterile plantations of fast-growing, non-native trees – choking out the life that once thrived there.

Buried in these Ghost Woods are the seeds, fungal networks and surviving species which cling on from centuries-old ecosystems. If we act now, we can bring them back. But if we miss this window, these ancient woodlands will be lost forever.

According to data published in the Guardian, at the current rate of progress it will take the managers of our public forests, Forestry England, over 80 years to even start seeing meaningful progress for all of these precious woodlands. If restoration isn’t sped up, will there be anything left to bring back to life?

Our ancient woodlands support more species than any other habitat in England, but there is currently no funding to restore our publicly owned Ghost Woods. Together we can change this. 

The government has committed to spending over £1 billion in order to create brand new woodland sites - but restoring our Ghost Woods would cost less than 20% of that.

Brand new trees and forests are great for hitting headlines, but scientists have shown that it's our ancient woodlands that are home to our most beloved species.

Forestry England manages our public forest estate - it is their job to protect and restore our woods for us, the public. But the government has no public commitment to funding this vital work, despite private landowners being paid for restoration on their land out of the public purse. We have an opportunity to change this. 

Join the hundred thousand people across the country who are calling for our lost woodlands to be brought back from the dead!