What wildlife-rich looks like:
Willows, downy birch and alder trees growing in very wet soils or water. Lots of standing and fallen dead and decaying wood. Unpolluted. Lots of insects providing food for birds and bats.
Wet woodland
Wet woodlands are powerhouses of insect biomass production.
A wet woodland in West Devon has recently been estimated to produce 38 million flies per hectare per year.
Wet woodlands play an important role in storing carbon and reducing floods.
Beaver, Svetozar Cenis – Unsplash
Snapshot for wet woodland
Devon Special Species:
Specialists: Willow tit, wet woodland flies, wet woodland lichens
Others: All bats (especially Bechstein’s), water vole, beaver, otter, lesser spotted woodpecker.
UK significance:
UK priority habitat: Yes
Statutory irreplaceable habitatIrreplaceable habitat, if destroyed, is very difficult (or takes a significant time) to restore, recreate or replace because of its age, uniqueness, species diversity or rarity. More: Ancient woodland. Ancient and veteran treesA tree that has reached a great age compared to others of the same species and has cultural, landscape or biodiversity value. Ancient trees are veteran trees, but not all veteran trees are old enough to be ancient. More within a wet woodland.
Wider benefits include: Carbon storage, flood prevention, water quality, pollinators.
1. About
Wet woodlands are important wildlife-rich habitats, but are often overlooked. Devon is likely to support more wet woodlands than most other English counties due to its size, climate and wet soils
Devon’s wet woodlands are dominated by tree species such as willow, alder and downy birch, which grow in very wet soils. They would once have been common across the county but have been lost through land clearance and drainage.
Small areas of wet woodlands are now largely found as small patches along streams, in wet areas in open countryside and in the wetter parts of broadleaved woodlands (often when they’re in valley floors and along streams). They form an important part of the wildlife-rich mosaics on the wet soils of the north Devon Culm, Dartmoor Rhos pastures and the east Devon and Blackdown Hills spring-line mires.
Because wet woodland tree species grow fast, wet woodlands (especially those on peaty soils) capture and store carbon more quickly than many other woodland types.
Wet woodlands are especially important for insects and other invertebrates which thrive in their damp environment, especially when there’s lots of deadwood. Invertebrates are an essential food source for bats and birds, including Bechstein’s bats and willow tits. Willow tits are a wet woodland specialist species and are thought to be the country’s fastest declining resident bird.
Wet woodlands are often dark environments and support few flowering plants. However, in more open areas characteristic species can include marsh marigold, yellow flag iris and meadowsweet. Wet woodlands in more open areas provide perfect habitat for rare lichens, which live on the well-lit bark of willows on the edges of the woodlands.
Beavers are once more starting to move into Devon’s wet woodlands, diversifying their structure and felling trees, which creates more decaying and deadwood.
Reminder! Wear wellies in wet woodlands and take an umbrella to visit a temperate rainforestVery damp, often ancient woodlands where mosses, lichens, liverworts and ferns grow in abundance, including on trees. Temperate rainforests are threatened and globally rare. More.
To be added before final publication of the LNRS to ensure that the most up to date information is used from NE and DBRCDevon Biodiversity Records Centre More.
Area and distribution
Unknown
Designations and condition
17 SSSIs include wet woodland (bold indicates a National Nature Reserve).
Arlington, Killerton, Bovey Valley, Holne Woods, Sampford Spiney, Shaugh Prior Woods, Slapton Ley, Braunton Burrows, Andrew’s Wood, Dunsdon Farm, Dunsland Park, Hense Moor, Ashculm Turbary (a Devon Wildlife Trust nature reserve), Southey and Gotleigh Moor and Blackdown, Sampford Common, Yarner Wood and Wolborough Fen.
2023 data from Natural England suggests that 62-68% of wet woodland in Devon within SSSIs is in favourable condition and 26-30% is unfavourable recovering.
County Wildlife Sites: Figure to be inserted from DBRC.
Key pressures and opportunities
If left unmanaged, many wet woodlands will eventually dry out and change into broadleaved woodland. To keep them as wet woodlands, water tables must remain high and water flow must be maintained. However, wet woodlands need to be seen as part of a dynamic landscape where new areas are allowed to develop, ideally near to existing ones so that connectivity for wet woodland specialist species such as lichens and willow tits is improved.
Wet woodlands provide shade and shelter for (lightly) grazing cattle. In turn the cattle increase the diversity of invertebrates as they create microhabitats in the woodland (see Wet woodland flies). However, wet woodlands are often permanently fenced off from adjacent wet grasslands in the misunderstanding that this will benefit wildlife.
Dead and decaying wood provides critical habitat for invertebrates and fungi. However, it’s often ‘tidied up’ although it should be left in place.
Reductions in water flow in and around wet woodlands, along with changes in the water’s nutrient load, can harm the structural diversity of wet woodlands. Therefore, it’s vital that water flow and quality are maintained.
Wet woodlands are a critical nature-based solution as they store water, reduce flooding and, to some extent, act as buffers to other more sensitive habitats such as mires and watercourses.
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of summer droughts. This poses a major threat to wet woodland wildlife as species often depend on a continuously damp environment.
Because wet woodland trees grow quickly they capture carbon faster than other trees. Therefore, wet woodlands should be a high priority when creating habitats to store carbon.
Non-native invasive species such as skunk cabbage and Himalayan balsam pose a growing threat.
More frequently occuring tree diseases, especially alder rot (Phytophthora alni), are a concern as they can seriously threaten the health of entire woodlands. However, the resulting deadwood provides important habitat for invertebrates and fungi.
Despite their wildlife value, wet woodlands are often overlooked by ecologists and foresters and sometimes cleared in favour of open habitats such as mires and wet heath. Clearance can be the best option for wildlife, but is not always. We need mosaics of habitats and decisions about land use should always be made with regard to the needs of habitats and species across the wider landscape.
The Forestry Commission provide funding to support woodland management planning and grants to create new wet woodlands.
2. What we need to do and where
Priority
Better (wildlife rich), bigger and more insect rich wet woodlands that are connected to a network of habitats across the landscape, particularly to benefit Devon Special SpeciesDevon Species of Conservation Concern which have been 'shortlised' as needing particular action or attention (rather than being iconic species). More and achieve wider benefits such as flood control.
See Find out more below for links to detailed guidance and sources of funding and advice.
Actions for wet woodland
Manage, expand, create and, where appropriate remove, wet woodlands as part of a changing mosaic of habitats.
- Wet woodlands should be expanded and created where they will benefit specialist species such as wet woodland flies, lichens and willow tits. However in some cases wet woodlands will have developed over potentially wildlife-rich mire or rush pasture habitats and will need to be cleared. The aim should be to create a mosaic of habitats.
- Maintain and restore natural hydrological processes (such as water flow, quantity and quality) in and around wet woodlands.
- Maintain and improve water quality in wet woodlands, particularly through:
- reducing agricultural run-off by following best practice management for nutrients, slurry and manure.
- managing and reducing road and road drain run-off.
- Leave standing and fallen, dead and decaying, wood.
- Where appropriate, lightly graze wet woodlands with cattle at a stocking density that creates microhabitats and allows the woodland to regenerate naturally.
- Control invasive species such as skunk cabbage.
- Develop a woodland management plan informed by habitat and species surveys and past management. Use the national Woodland Condition Assessment toolkit and follow the Forestry Commission’s management guidance and the UK Forest Standards. See links in Find out more below.
Survey, monitoring and awareness
- Raise awareness of the high value of wet woodlands as part of a dynamic mosaic of habitats.
- Map the distribution of wet woodlands across Devon. Use this and species records to target habitat management and restoration.
Other relevant actions
More detailed actions for Devon Special Species and Wider themes are set out on other LNRS pages. Follow the links below:
Where to focus action
Wildlife will benefit from these actions being implemented across Devon. However actions can be targeted to the following High Opportunity Areas, guided by the wider Species Opportunity Areas and Water Opportunity Areas. See Mapping.
High Opportunity Areas:
- Woody mosaics: Ancient and broadleaved woodlands (existing), Woody habitat expansion areas.
- Heath, mire and species-rich rush pasture mosaics: North Devon Culm, Dartmoor Rhos Pastures, East Devon Spring-Line Mires.
Species Opportunity Areas:
- Mammals: Bechstein’s bat sustenance zone and landscape connectivity zone, Water vole zones, Beaver catchments
- Birds: Willow tit recovery areas.
Water Quality and Flood Risk Opportunity Areas:
- Natural Flood Management High Priority Catchments
- Drinking water safeguard zones
Advice should be obtained before any wet woodland creation takes place in the following High Opportunity Areas and Species Opportunity Areas to ensure that it to ensure that it complements and supports existing wildlife:
- All areas in the Wildlife-rich grassland mosaic group
- All areas in the Heath, mire and rush pasture mosaics group
- All areas in the Upland bog, heath and mire mosaics group
- Coastal habitats and Coastal Wildbelt
- Dartmoor breeding wader recovery zones
- Whinchat zones
- Wintering estuarine birds
- Greater horseshoe and grey long-eared bat sustenance zones
- Marsh fritillary and the narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth zone
- South Devon arable plant zone
Note that there is not currently a map of wet woodlands for Devon. The Ancient and broadleaved woodlands layer includes wet woodlands.
3. Inspiration
Case studies
This section will be finalised following public consultation. Please share any case studies and places to visit as well as high quality photos. A few ideas are given below.
Wet woodlands in the Bovey Valley and Yarner Woods are being managed and restored for their special species as part of a landscape-scale approach to integrated habitat management across woodland, farmland and heathland.
North Devon Biosphere Wood 4 Water – helps landowners create woodland to improve water quality and reduce flooding.
Where to visit
Always follow the Countryside Code and keep to footpaths and sites that are managed for public access.
Good places to see wet woodland (take your wellies) are:
Slapton Ley National Nature Reserve
Includes a significant area of wet woodland.
Yarner National Nature Reserve and Bovey Valley woods on Dartmoor
Managed by the Woodland Trust and Natural England
For information on these and other sites that are open to the public please see the Explore Devon website.
4. Find out more
This section will be tidied up and finalised following public consultation. Please share any links.
The Devon Tree and Woodland Strategy (2024) can be found on the Devon Local Nature Partnership website.
A Woodland Condition Assessment toolkit has been developed by members of the England Woodland Biodiversity Group (including FC, NE, Woodland Trust, Field Studies Council, Forest Research and Sylvia Foundation). Link to the woodland condition assessment form.
The Forestry Commission’s woodland management web guidance on GOV.UK has lots of useful information including woodland management plans, funding and regulations (tree felling licences, protected species etc).
Pages 23 – 36 of the United Kingdom Forest Standard (UKFS) set out requirements for biodiversity.
Forestry Commission guidance on the management of wet woodlands
Devon Wildlife Trust Guidance note on the management of wet woodlands
Buglife guidance on the management of wet woodlands
Catchment management plan guidance
WWT guidance at wet woodlands
Details on Favourable Conservation Status for wet woodlands is at Natural England Advice
Natural England (2023) has produced a report defining Favourable Conservation Status for wet woodland .
Targets include:
At least 80% of wet woodland should be within woodland patches at least 30 haHectare: an area of 10,000 square metres, or 2.47 acres More in size, located in an area with semi-natural surroundings as opposed to being surrounded by intensive farmland
Based on the requirements of notable associated species, for example willow tit and Bechstein’s bat, woodland patches should be within 5 km in core areas or 3 km of other mature woodland habitats. Connection can be via hedgerows, tree lined watercourses, wetlands and meadows.
Better
Long Term. 95% at JNCCJoint Nature Conservation Committee More Favourable Conservation Status
Long Term. 80% in good condition as per Woodland Condition Assessment
Long term. Wet woodlands in active management for biodiversity, climate and sustainable forestry
Short Term. 70% of wet woodlands in active management by 2030
Short Term. Majority of PAWsPlantation on ancient woodland sites More in restoration by 2030.
More, Larger and better connected
Long Term. Expanded as part of 16.5% woodland cover by 2050
Short term. Part of 3,000 ha’s of new woodland by 2030
