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Ancient woodlands provide some of Great Britain’s most biodiverse and culturally significant habitats. Current planning policy aims to protect these ‘irreplaceable’ habitats from the direct and indirect impacts of nearby development. However, assessing the potential impact of development on nearby habitats is complex and impeded by evidence gaps. Our aim is to deliver evidence to underpin future policy, practice, and industry guidance critical to safeguarding ancient woodlands whilst supporting responsible development and woodland use.
This project is closely aligned with AWDev Project WIDGET (Woodland Impacts of Development: Guidance, Evidence and Tools), which is led by the Forestry Commission and funded by the Government’s Project Speed programme. We are working across these two projects to co-develop a synergistic programme of work.
Focus groups and interviews are now being undertaken with user groups and site managers in case study woodland sites experiencing different recreational pressures to uncover the motivations behind unwanted behaviours, and to investigate the efficacy of interventions. The results will be written up as advice and briefing notes on encouraging responsible woodland use.
Outputs
Clements & Ambrose-Oji (2023): ‘Promoting responsible Ancient Woodland use: Rapid evidence review’
Spatial Scientist
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