By Kieran Leigh-Moy, Future Woodlands Manager

Through the Future Woodlands Fund pilot, our team has been working with landowners to restore heavily degraded ancient woodlands with less than 20% canopy cover remaining – which we’ve termed ‘ghost woodlands’.

Following the pilot, we wanted to better understand where the ghost woodlands are and to get a better idea of how much of this heavily degraded ancient woodland there is in Scotland. To this end, I’ve been working with the aerial survey company Bluesky International Ltd to create a ghost woodland map using data from the Ancient Woodland Inventory and Bluesky’s National Tree Map. The process was a bit tricky to get right and involved overcoming obstacles such as defining what we consider a distinct woodland and deciding over what area we are assessing the % canopy cover.

Nevertheless, with some trial and error, I feel we have done a good job of developing a useful tool for identifying the most heavily degraded areas of ancient woodland and I have written an article discussing this work in the latest Autumn/Winter edition of the Scottish Forestry Journal.

These ghost woodlands are the last vestiges of one of the most important habitats for biodiversity in Scotland and should be a priority for restoration. We hope that this new tool will now prove useful for us and others working on woodland restoration in Scotland to target restoration activities where it’s needed most.

If you’re a landowner interested in contributing to these efforts, Future Woodlands Scotland can offer guidance and support, so please get in touch.

Read Kieran’s full article

In Kieran’s article in the latest edition of the Scottish Forestry Journal, he dives deeper into the methodology behind the Ghost Woodlands Mapping Tool, the importance of restoring ancient woodlands, and the long-term impact these projects can have on Scotland’s biodiversity. Read his full article in Scottish Forestry Vol. 78 No. 3, Autumn/Winter 2024, available exclusively to members.