Lincolnshire's Missing Woodland

Statistics from The Woodland Trust show that Lincolnshire is one of the least wooded counties in the United Kingdom, with there being an average of 4.2% coverage. This is less than half the national average of 10% and below the recommended average of 15%.

These are worrying figures as woodland has a vital role to play in our environment. This includes: limiting the damage caused by floods, supporting local wildlife, preventing soil erosion and - perhaps most significantly - acting as a sink for our carbon emissions, thus lessening the impacts of global climate change.

Lincolnshire is a county in which the economic livelihood is dependent on agricultural output. Estimates from the Lincolnshire Research Observatory (LRO) show that the food and farming industry employs 10% of people who live in the county and that the economic reliance on this sector is four times the national average (LEFM, 2006). From this it is difficult to see how enough land could be spared to meet the recommended target of 15% without local farmers and communities suffering.

Nevertheless, a recent report by the Forestry Commission has suggested one way in which economic and environmental concerns could be equated. The Forestry Commission puts forward the idea that we should create and encourage the planting of small woodland areas on arable land. This includes: planting trees and other shrubbery (around farm buildings), tracks, storage yards and water courses. This proposal would not encroach upon available crop-planting land and, instead, could  increase the arability and profitability of the land.

This is because wooded areas help stabilise the soil, thus protecting land from soil erosion and nutrient run-off into rivers and streams. In areas prone to flooding, woodland can also protect against crop damage by soaking up excess water. This may be particularly relevant to agricultural areas near the coastline, who face the risk of storm surges due to the changing climate.

With the additional threats posed to Woodland by the fungal disease Chalara Franxiena (Ash dieback), it is essential that the Forestry Commission and other government bodies work together to advance all current Farm Woodland Schemes (FWS) and the English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS) in Lincolnshire and across the rest of the UK.