Dame Judi Dench backs calls to save Britain's native woodlands from major threat

Dame Judi Dench has launched a petition to revive Britain's ancient woodlands felled and replaced by timber plantations in the 20th century. The actress called on Forestry England to fulfil its commitment to bring back the nation's "ghost woods".

Tree lover Dame Judi, 90, said: "Forestry England is responsible for over 100,000 acres that were once ancient, life-filled woodland. These were places of deep memory and wild beauty. But instead of letting nature return, much of the land has been smothered with fast-growing timber plantations.

"These places are now often uniform, silent, and sterile. In the process, we've lost so much of the rich biodiversity that once thrived there.

"I've always felt there is profound wisdom in trees, an ancient wisdom that we need to retain and let speak again. That's why this matters so much to me. Thankfully beneath these silent ghost woods, the heartbeat of life is still beating. Fragile threads of fungal networks and native seedbanks are still clinging on. But scientists are warning us that they won't last much longer. If we don't act soon, they'll be lost forever. It's time to let these forests live and breathe once more."

In 2022, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) set a new national target to restore or start the restoration of the majority of ancient woodlands covered with plantations by 2030, following a missed initial target of 2020.

But campaigners at Wild Card have suggested at the current rate of progress, Forestry England will fail to deliver on this target until 2111, over 80 years late.

Rosie Smart-Knight, campaigner at Wild Card, said: "The state of Britain's nature is a source of national shame and nowhere is this more apparent than with the appalling treatment of our ancient woodlands. We recently saw the public outcry over the felling of just two trees, the iconic Hadrian's Wall Sycamore and a 500 year-old oak next to a Toby Carvery. When you consider how many similarly wondrous and charismatic trees would have stood in our ancient woodlands you get a sense of the devastating loss across the nation.

"Despite being the guardians of our public forests, Forestry England receives shockingly little support from Defra for the restoration of our nation's ghost woods. DEFRA must step up and financially support Forestry England to follow through on restoration targets or risk losing half of our ancient woodlands forever."

A Forestry England spokesman said: "Unfortunately, the campaign is misleading: we are restoring all of our plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS) and have been for many years using the skill and expertise of our foresters and ecologists.
"We agree that restoring PAWS is important and it is a key part of our work to reverse the biodiversity crisis. We have a good track record of successful restoration projects across the country, and have an ambition to double our rate of PAWS restoration. At over 40,000 ha, it is arguably the largest nature restoration programme in the country.

"It's important to understand that experts agree PAWS restoration needs to be done sensitively and gradually. It can be difficult, needs care and takes time. Some woodlands can have trees replaced more quickly than others, some are more challenging. Deer and squirrels can stop trees from regenerating naturally. Planting native trees and protecting them can be expensive and time-consuming. And we must choose the right pace for the woodland: clear-felling large areas can harm the ancient features we want to protect such as fungi-rich soils."

Sign the petition here