Thanks Bob, It's indeed hard to imagine there being any truly primeval forest left in Europe at all, not just UK. The definition of ancient woodland is quite interesting, particularly the first two bullet points: # Ancient woodland is land continuously wooded since AD1600 in England and Wales or AD1750 in Scotland. # Areas of ancient woodland that have never been cleared or replanted are known as semi-natural ancient woodland (SNAW). This resource cannot increase and is irreplaceable.
I guess a fully natural ancient woodland would correspond to our use of "premieval forest". The coniferous forest (ie northern boreal region) in Norway takes on average 300 years without managing to approach SNAW status, which is nicely between the age set for Scotland and England/Wales. Most areas with SNAW forest in Norway are already part of national parks, and it is a ridiculously small area compared to the total amount of forest. It puzzles me a bit that they claim "this resource cannot increase". Certainly, if an area is left to itself for a couple of centuries...? Jostein 2007/7/3, Bob W <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Mike is right about it not being primeval. There is a definition here: > http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/findoutmore/planforactionmore/ancient > .htm > > there is an area of ancient woodland close to me (Oxleas Wood, about > 4km away) which apparently dates back 8,000 years, although it has of > course been managed - for example, many of the trees are pollarded. > obviously the powers that be would like to build a motorway through > it! > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxleas_Wood > > -- > Bob > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > > Behalf Of AlunFoto > > Sent: 03 July 2007 13:23 > > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > Subject: Re: Strip lynchets, a gathering storm and the lamb of God > > > > Is 600 years the qualifying age for ancient woodland in UK? > > > > Up here in the Frostpit we reckon 300 years, but perhaps that's just > a > > practical limit to single out some areas more "worthy" of protection > > than others. I'd reckon that absolutely all coniferous forest > (well... > > we don't have much deciduous stuff anyway...:-) ) up here has been > > logged at some time or another. > > > > Jostein > > > > > > 2007/7/2, mike wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > Bob W wrote: > > > >>Very nice gallery. Pretty countryside (England looks so > > > >>manicured compared > > > >>to California). Age, I think, mainly. How long one has been > > > >>settled vs the > > > >>other. > > > > > > > > > > > > probably. That part of the country has been inhabited > continuously > > > > since the end of the last Ice Age, I think. Deforestation > happened > > > > over several thousand years, and there has been > > agriculture there for > > > > about 6,000 years. Dorset grew rich off sheep farming during the > > > > Georgian period, and the hedgerows would have been > > planted following > > > > the Enclosures of the 18th (?) century. > > > > > > > > There are still some primeval woodlands in the region, > > but not much, > > > > so practically the whole countryside is man-made. > > > > > > Ancient woodland, meaning over about 600 years old. The > > only primeval > > > (meaning never managed) woodland (and that's debateable) in > > Europe is on > > > the Poland/Belarus border. Apart from a few blanket and > > raised bogs, > > > the whole of the UK landscape is created by Mankind. > > > > > > -- > > > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > > PDML@pdml.net > > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > > > > > > > > -- > > http://www.alunfoto.no/galleri/ > > http://alunfoto.blogspot.com > > > > -- > > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > PDML@pdml.net > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > -- http://www.alunfoto.no/galleri/ http://alunfoto.blogspot.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
