From remote woodland, orchard, wood-pasture and tree-lined hedge to lime avenue in the heart of Malvern town, the majority of the MHT estate has tree cover providing a different habitat, a more intimate experience for visitors and often hiding clues to historic cultural activities. Woodlands provide wider ecosystem services including improving air quality and carbon sequestration, the latter being of particular importance in a time of global climate change. Woodlands form nearly 30% of Malvern Hills Trust's land holding, with 33Ha of ancient woodland.
As part of the evidence review for our upcoming Land Management Plan, we are conducting condition assessments of key habitats across the Malvern Hills and Commons. Findings from the 2016 assessment indicate that 12/33 compartments were in good condition, 15/33 in moderate and only 6/33 in poor condition. But what constitutes a 'good' vs 'poor' quality woodland?
There are many different methods to surveying and assessing woodlands, although several factors remain the same. A lack of invasive species, good overall tree health, signs of regeneration and variation in the structure of the woodland layers (from ground flora through to top canopy). We have produced a short video illustrating some of these, and you can find below some examples of good vs poor condition criteria.
- Extent- full extent of parcel is woodland vs major loss of woodland to another land use
- Age classes - three age classes present vs one age class present
- Herbivore damage - no significant browsing vs Damage present in half or more of the area
- Invasive plants - none vs present at more than 10% cover
- Number of native trees/shrubs - more than 5 species vs 1-2 species