This is a review of the literature on the effects of various conservation interventions on the biodiversity of newly established woodlands. The overall aim is to inform guidance on how to create native woodlands with high conservation value. Although approximately half of the UK’s woodlands are non-native commercial plantations, and there are ways they can be improved for biodiversity, these are not considered here. The guidance that will result from this review will be for the Woodland Trust’s approach to woodland creation, which has at its heart the prioritisation of native woods and trees.
Within the overarching question ‘what are the effects of active interventions on biodiversity in newly established woodlands in the UK?’ five specific interventions were identified:
- Provision of artificial structures for cavity-dependent species
- Promoting the formation of deadwood habitats (veteranisation)
- Species reintroduction, population reinforcement and assisted colonisation
- Increasing structural complexity
- Grazing with large herbivores
