5 Interesting Facts About Woods & Forests In The UK

Growing up my whole life, I have been surrounded by woodlands. As a kid, I used to climb trees and play hide and seek with friends in the local woods as any young kid would do. I loved growing up surrounded by trees and nature, from the sounds of woodpeckers to the other animals that can be found hidden away, there was always something to new to check out. As I have gotten older, the woodlands I once explored have began to disappear as new houses and infrastructure are being built.

Woods & Forests are like cities for UK wildlife.

Woods and trees are home to more wildlife than any other landscape. In the UK, woodlands are by far our richest habitat, providing food and shelter for thousands of species including mammals, reptiles, birds and invertebrates.

Did you know that we have rainforests in the UK?

Many people assume that rainforests can only be found in tropical regions but this isn’t true. There are a few pockets of temperate rainforests in the UK where the moist conditions promote growth of mosses and ferns.

There is a wood wide web that you can find in our forests.

Trees and fungi have a symbiotic relationship. Fungi have mycelium which is fine threads which spread underground, trees use these to link with one another. By forming this network underground, trees can communicate and warn each other of danger should they need to. These networks are also used by older trees to pass nutrients to their offspring nearby. These partnerships are called ‘mycorrhiza’.

The UK is only covered by around 13% of woods and forests.

Despite promises by leading officials, the UK has missed several of it’s afforestation targets. In 2019, 13,400 hectares of trees were planted. While this may seem like a lot, its quite far off the 20,000 hectares target set by the government advisors, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). Europes average tree cover is 44% and the UK falls quite far below this, so far in fact that the UK is the second least wooded country on the continent below Ireland.

The UK woods are home to half the world’s flowering bluebells.

From April to May, our ancient woods come alive with colour as stunning bluebell carpets bloom. Each bluebell bulb can live for several years and they are slow spreading. Each year new flowers bloom from these bulbs but they are under threat. Trampling, habitat loss, competition and hybridization with Spanish bluebells as well as people picking the flowers (which is illegal) has meant a decline in their populations.