https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/sustainable-farming-incentive-pilot-guidance-create-or-maintain-dead-wood-to-benefit-wildlife/
Create or maintain dead wood to benefit wildlife
The guidance on this page is for SFI pilot participants only. Please visit GOV.UK for the official Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme guidance.
Find out how land managers can create or maintain a variety of dead wood to support wildlife and help to recycle nutrients into the soil.
If you’re completing this action as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot, how you do it is up to you.
The advice on this page can help you get better environmental and business benefits, but you do not have to follow it to get paid.
Why dead wood is important
Dead wood describes all stages of natural decay in any type of tree or shrub. It’s a particular feature of ancient and veteran trees.
Keep both standing dead wood (attached to the tree or shrub) and fallen dead wood. Different species of invertebrates, fungi and plants will live in the wood.
Fungi, invertebrates and other organisms break down dead wood. This releases nutrients and builds up soil organic matter.
Dead wood is important in:
- woodland
- upland and lowland wood pasture
- parkland
- scrub mosaics
- hedgerows
- orchards
- in-field trees
As dead wood decays the species living and feeding on it will change. A range of dead wood habitats will develop over time, including:
- heart wood-rot in stems and boughs, plus cavities and wood mould
- wood decay within the crown, especially of veteran trees
- rotted hollows in trunks
- fallen stems, branches and twigs
- bark surfaces of stems and branches
- stumps and buried roots
Benefits of dead wood
Dead wood provides:
- sources of food and shelter for a wide range of wildlife
- nutrients to the soil as it decays
- coarse woody debris in rivers and streams to help against flooding
Dead wood is home to:
- many rare invertebrates and fungi
- nesting birds such as owls and woodpeckers
- bat species that live in cracks and fissures
Birds and bats make a valuable contribution to land management by eating pests. This helps reduce reliance on pesticides.
If you have a woodland management plan or you’re completing a woodland condition assessment, you should include detail about the location and quantity of dead wood. This will help you decide if you should create new dead wood in some areas, and plan how to manage any new or existing dead wood.
How to create dead wood in woodland
You can create new dead wood by felling or killing trees.
Whole trees or sections of trees should be over 20cm in diameter to contribute to dead wood targets.
Get the right permissions
You’ll normally need to get permission from the Forestry Commission to fell growing trees.
You may need other permissions before you create new dead wood, such as a licence to disturb protected species. Unless you have a licence, you should avoid activities which may disturb or damage breeding and resting places of protected species. These include dormice and bats.
Birds, nests and eggs are protected by law. You must check the area before creating new dead wood. If you see signs of nesting birds, delay work until birds fledge.
If your woodland has a Tree Preservation Order or is in a conservation area, you’ll need permission from your local authority before starting to create dead wood.
Create standing dead wood
Use herbicides when killing trees to create standing dead wood. Follow the herbicide manufacturer’s guidance on how much to use and how to apply it. Read a guide on safely using hand-held equipment to apply pesticides when working with trees.
You should not ‘ring bark’ trees (remove most or all of the bark from a tree limb or trunk).
Avoid creating standing dead wood where it could be a safety hazard. This avoids trees falling where they may pose a danger to life or property. Take care to avoid dead wood falling on access routes like public rights of way or forest tracks.
How to maintain dead wood to benefit wildlife
Maintain a constant variety of dead wood habitats within a woodland or across a landscape. This should include all stages from undecayed dead wood or bark through to the final products of decay.
You should:
- keep standing dead wood including trunks, stems and branches
- allow fallen dead wood to decay where it falls, if possible
- protect veteran and ancient trees and shrubs with fencing or guards
- have enough younger open-grown trees to succeed them
Only cut standing dead wood or move fallen dead wood:
- if it poses a risk to life or property
- to maintain highways, public rights of way or other access routes
- in historic parks and gardens to preserve visual aspects of the design
If you need to move dead wood, move it as quickly as possible before invertebrates colonise it. Move it only a short distance and leave it intact.
You might need to take away dead wood with pests and diseases that are a threat to trees. Get advice from the Forestry Commission on how to manage its removal.
If your land is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), you must find out if you need consent to cut or move dead wood before you start.
Birds, nests and eggs are protected by law. You must check the area before cutting. If you see signs of nesting birds, delay work until birds fledge.
Avoid activities which disturb or damage breeding and resting places of protected species, unless you have a licence. These include dormice and bats.
How you’ll know if you’ve been successful
By leaving dead and decaying wood, you’ll see more variety and abundance of plants and animals on your land.
In trees in fields and hedgerows you could see birds like:
- pied flycatcher
- marsh tit
- wren
- dunnock
In woodlands you could see birds like:
- tawny owl
- great spotted woodpecker
- tree creeper
- redstart
You’ll also see more:
- mammals
- reptiles and amphibians
- invertebrates, such as lesser stag beetle, centipedes and hover flies
- fungi, like candle snuff and beefsteak fungus
- mosses and slime mould
