Ancient Woodland
With the 20th century came mechanised forestry with much ancient woodland (land wooded since 1600 or before) being cut down and often replaced with conifers or farmland.
Ancient, semi natural woodlands are the most valued part of woodland for nature conservation as the plant and tree species have descended from the original native woodland.
These woodlands can contain large trees, know as veterans, that may be several hundreds of years old and can be traced back to the original native woodlands.
Species such as pedunculate and sessile oak, along with an understorey of hazel, wych elm and ash are usually present.
These individual trees have high biodiversity value and are being located and recorded in an Ancient Tree Hunt
.
The wildlife is usually richer than those newer established woods and can have a high percentage of rare and vulnerable woodland species, not found elsewhere. Spring flowers, which carpet the woodland floor include, wood anemone, bluebell, wood sorrel, primrose and lords and ladies.
These woodlands have an abundance of of mosses, ferns and lichens and woodland birds such as the wren, long tailed tit, willow warbler, jay, blackbird, chaffinch and sparrowhawk are present.
Some of these nest in holes and feed on the insects which make their homes in rotting wood.
The Woodland Trust and Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) carried out an inventory of ancient and long established woodland.
This is a very scare resource in Northern Ireland. Sadly only less than 0.08% of land cover now contains ancient woodland.
The Woodland Trust website Back on the Map. details current sites.
Accessible sites include Belvoir Park Forest Belfast and a Woodland Trust site at Oaks Wood near Londonderry.