Rewild the Ghost Woods
We live with ghosts.
All across England, lost beneath neat, uniform timber plantations, lie the remains of some of our oldest living ecosystems. These are the “Ghost Woods” – once thriving ancient woodlands felled in the 20th century and now smothered by monoculture plantations. These forests should be alive with birdsong, fungi and wildflowers, but instead they’ve been turned into dark and gloomy tree farms.
Wild Card wants to change this.
We’re calling on Forestry England to honour their own promises and restore these lost habitats, turning back time on centuries-old woodlands now buried under plantations. The land is already there, the seedbank is ready to regrow, but it won’t survive another 60 year timber cycle. The time to act is now.
WHERE HAVE OUR GHOST WOODS GONE?
The situation today is dire.
Just 1.6% of England is true ancient woodland.
Another 370,000 acres of former ancient woodland known as PAWS (Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites) have been replaced by timber plantations.
Forestry England controls a massive 105,000 acres of these lost woodlands but they’re not doing enough to bring them back. That’s bigger than the Isle of Wight!
Monoculture plantations may grow wood, but they annihilate the rich biodiversity of ancient woodland: they damage soil, suppress wildlife, and silence the landscape. These aren’t forests, they’re crops.
BRING BACK THE GHOST WOODS!
We want to revive the Ghost Woods to bring back thriving native woodlands where nature, people, and local communities all can benefit. If Forestry England stopped dithering and delaying they could:
– Restore nature and revive biodiversity across thousands of acres of public land
– Create sustainable, green jobs in communities that need them most
– Support better quality, locally produced timber through mixed woodlands and thoughtful management
– Inspire a generation by becoming leaders in the rewilding revolution!
Many of these gloomy plantations are nearing felling age now. This is a once-in-a-generation chance to do things differently. But if Forestry England re-plants timber crops as before, we’ll lose what little is left.
Instead, we’re demanding a bold step: restore these landscapes and let nature lead.
This is public land. Let’s use it for the public good.
GET INVOLVED IN THE GHOST HUNT
Want to take action in your local area? We’re inviting people across England to host their own ‘Ghost Hunt’ in their local timber plantations.
Let’s gather together in our hundreds to demonstrate just how loud the call for restoring ancient woodland is!
From our blog
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Ghost Woods Local Actions
July 6th-13th was an exciting time in the Wild Card calendar as we stepped up our Ghost Woods campaign with a whole week of local actions. Working with local groups across England, from the undulating landscapes of Oxfordshire to the Pennine hills of West Yorkshire, these events were billed as a week of citizen science, art and protest…
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Ancient Woodland Restoration Film
Last week saw the premier of a new film (embedded above) from our friends at Woods for the Trees. The film, entitled ‘Ancient Woodland Restoration: The Story of Light and Life’, is incredibly relevant to our latest campaign to restore the Ghost Woods – ancient woodland which haunts Forestry England’s plantation forests. The film premiered…
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Hope for the Ghost Woods
Our hope for the ghost woods lies in their restoration. In these dark plantation forests, the spirit of the ancient woods still remains, desperate to make a comeback and reawaken the flowers, trees and fungi which can best sustain our native wildlife. You can read more about how they came into being in our blog…
