Restoring Hardknott Forest are restoring one of the largest conifer plantations in the Lake District National Park to native woodland, for the benefit of people, nature and climate. The project is being run as a partnership between Forestry England and the University of Leeds, combining practical conservation, informed by research and monitoring, to create and restore 630 hectares of native woodland and other wildlife rich habitats.
Protect Earth helped out with a contribution of 700 trees, which is a very small amount for such a huge project. Why only 700? Well, natural regeneration is already doing a brilliant job. Much like at our site High Wood, when converting a timber plantation to a native ecosystem you mainly just need to harvest the timber, then let nature fill in the gaps. Some of the land was too far from appropriate seed sources, so for the sake of biodiversity and ensuring a fully functional ecosystem, we supplied 700 supplementary locally sourced saplings of Juniper, Hawthorn, and Hazel. These species will provide more undergrowth to provide food and shelter, inviting more wildlife into the regenerating woodland.
In partnership with
