Coppicing Woodland

Surrey Biodiversity Partnership

Position Paper Series

Coppicing Woodland

Background

Coppicing is a traditional and sustainable way of managing our native woodlands, making use of the regenerative properties of many of our native tree species. Although carried out in the past for entirely economic reasons, today there is widespread recognition that coppicing woodland improves the diversity of plant and animal life and that the decline in coppicing has seen a decline in the biodiversity within our native woodlands.

The process has been in use for thousands of years and involves the rotational cutting of trees within a section of a wood, allowing the stumps to regenerate for a number of years (usually 7 - 25) and then harvesting the resulting stems for a variety of uses. The biodiversity value of coppicing results from the varied age structure that results within woodland, with different species of plant and animal adapted to either younger or older coppice. For example, woodland butterfly species in particular benefit from coppicing where the process allows extra light to reach the woodland floor, promoting the growth of flowering herbs which in turn are the food source for their caterpillar stage.

Surrey’s Coppiced Woodlands

Surrey is the most densely wooded county in England (22.6% woodland, 7.1% of which is Ancient). A significant proportion is overgrown and undermanaged coppice (42% of Surrey's woodlands are coppice and only 5% of these show recent coppicing, 19% show some recent management of felling. The re-introduction of coppicing presents an opportunity to both improve biodiversity and also contribute to the local economy.

Surrey Biodiversity Partnership (SBP)

SBP encourages land owners to consider the re-introduction of coppicing within their woodlands as one of the most effective ways to help improve biodiversity across the County and as a boost to the rural economy.

Advice & Help

To find out more about coppicing for biodiversity the SBP recommends contacting Surrey Wildlife Trust Tel 01483 795440 or visit their web site http://surreywildlifetrust.org

For assistance in carrying out coppicing the SBP recommends contacting the Surrey and Sussex Coppice Group by visiting their web site http://www.coppicegroup.org.uk

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