Management Plan

The updated extracts from the 'Huntstown Wood Management Plan' below were submitted to the Forestry Commission for approval in February 2019.

Section 2.1: The vision for Huntstown Wood is to:

• develop it as an amenity wood;
• learn about woodland management;
• be productive;
• be an enjoyment for family and friends;
• encourage a diverse range of wildlife into the wood.

Section 2.2: The objectives for Huntstown Wood are to:

• Improve access and divide the wood into manageable compartments
• Reinstate the boundary ride and fences and create rides dividing the compartments
• Personally develop the skills to look after and utilise the wood and woodland
• Manage and encourage a diverse range of wildlife

Section 3: The review criteria:

Boundaries:

a) Survey the boundaries regularly

b) Repair, improve and replace the boundaries as needed

Compartments and rides:

a) Mark out the compartments

b) Create rides to divide the compartments

c) Rides in place showing compartment edges

Woodland Management:

a) Survey compartments individually and produce a plan for each compartment

b) Develop the skills to be able to look after the wood

Wildlife:

a) Survey of the wildlife using observations and camera traps:

b) Keep records of the species observed

Section 4: Woodland Survey

Huntstown Wood is approximately 6 acres (2.4 hectares) in area and is located between St Giles on the Heath and Broadwoodwidger: it is part of much larger area planted with a mixture of broadleaf trees, including 35% oak and 25% ash, in 2003 under a Forestry Commission Grant.

The layout of the wood, as purchased, does not match the plan as outlined in the original agreement with the open ground (OG) areas being flipped north to south and only one of the two rides being retained.

To the east and west the boundaries are a tree topped bank with a stock proof fence on the inside: to the north, the boundary is the northern bank of the stream and consists of a stock proof fence: to the south the boundary is a tree topped bank with a deer proof fence on the outside.

The woodland is in a priority area for targeting the Brown Hairstreak butterfly habitat issues.

Section 5: Woodland Protection

Plant Health

• Though most of the trees are in good health there are signs of ash dieback and squirrel damage to some of the oak trees.

Deer:

• The camera traps have shown that there are a small number of deer within the whole area of wood as originally laid out. There is signs of deer browsing on the ash trees.

Grey Squirrels:

• The camera traps have shown that there are grey squirrels living locally and some of the oak trees show signs of damage.

Livestock and Other Mammals:

• The wood is in an area of farm land where sheep and cattle are farmed and could trespass. The wood is surrounded by a stock proof fence on three sides and a deer proof fence on the other. Any gates will be kept shut at all times.

Water and Soil:

• The boundary to the north is the northern bank of a small stream, which rises to the east, flows once the water table is high enough. The stream feeds a number of ponds that do not belong to Huntstown Wood. The wood runs down to the stream and there is a tree topped bank to the south which stops any soil erosion.

Environmental:

• The stream is small and feeds a pond which is outside the wood: flooding of the wood is extremely unlikely.
• The wood is protected by a established tree topped bank on all sides which will reduce the possibility of wind damage.
• The land slopes gentle to the north providing some protection to south westerly winds, but not to any northerly winds.
• The wood is separated from other wooded areas by open ground on the all sides apart from the southern half of the western boundary which abuts another smaller are of planted woodland: unless a fire starts within Huntstown Wood, there is unlikely to be a problem.
• Invasive species are most likely to be brought in either by visitors or on the wind: they will be addressed as needed.

Climate Change:

• A diverse variety of trees was planted to improve the resilience against climate change. Any replacement / planting of trees will reflect the thinking at the time.