https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/sustainable-farming-incentive-pilot-guidance-create-or-manage-open-space-in-woodland/
Create or manage open space in woodland
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 manage open spaces to provide wildlife habitats and protect historic features.
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 you should create or manage open space in woodland
Open spaces are the areas in a woodland without trees or shrubs. You can manage them to stop them reverting to woodland and losing their unique ecological and historic features.
These spaces are important within woodland as they support a wide range of animals and flowering plants. They can be created through:
- natural events like storms and landslides that knock trees over
- management activities like tree felling and coppicing
Open spaces can be:
- temporary, where trees are allowed to regrow after a time
- permanent, where you cut or mow spaces to keep them free of trees
The way open space links to woodland is also important. The best habitat has a gradual change at its edges, from short grass to flowering plants to tall trees. This range of structures supports a wide variety of wildlife.
Open space can also protect the historic features in woodland like burial mounds, charcoal hearths and earth banks.
Some habitats and wildlife found in open woodland spaces are threatened and need conservation action. Find out the priority habitats that need protection and the priority species at risk.
Woodland open spaces can include manmade features like:
- areas of felled trees
- areas that separate forest blocks and provide access routes, known as rides
- verges along the edge of roads, tracks and rides
- earthworks and other historic features
- deer management areas
- forest roads and tracks
Natural areas of open space include:
- patches within the woodland canopy, known as glades
- patches of open priority habitat, like upland and lowland heath and species-rich grassland
- permanent features like ponds, wetlands, watercourses, and rocky outcrops
- partially open areas, including scrub, wood pasture and parkland
- areas created by natural disturbance, like trees blown over by the wind (wind throw), landslides and small patches of bare ground
Benefits of open space
Open spaces provide:
- habitats for invertebrates, birds, and small mammals
- food for a wide range of wildlife, including pollinators
- food plants for particular species, like common dog violet for the silver-washed fritillary butterfly
- year-round food supplies, like seeds, fruits, pollen, nectar and invertebrates
- nesting, shelter and hibernation sites
- bare ground to allow plants to germinate
These areas can also:
- connect adjacent natural habitats and help wildlife move through the landscape
- improve access
- create areas to manage deer populations
- reduce risks of wildfire to the standing trees
- help conserve historic features
Temporary open spaces, full of young, shrubby plants, can be some of the best areas for wildlife, including pollinators.
Before you start to create and manage open spaces
If you have a woodland management plan you should include how you’ll create and manage open spaces.
List all known historic features as well as priority species and habitats.
Planning open space
If you’re creating new woodland, plan where you’ll place open spaces. In woods over 10 hectares (ha) you should create permanent open areas if there’s no open space.
The total area of open space within each woodland should ideally be between 10% and 20%. This can include permanent and temporary open spaces.
In smaller woods, temporary open space and well-managed edges should provide enough open habitat.
You can place permanent open space on historic features or areas of priority habitat. Where small patches of habitat or historic features are near each other, create one large open space rather than many smaller spaces.
You can recreate views and vistas using open space. Do this only where there is a record of where they were. You can also draw attention to natural landmarks, or cultural features like statues.
Plan a continuous supply of temporary open spaces in larger woodlands. These replace those replanted or regrown after felling. The open areas should form a mosaic with closed canopy woodland blocks. Temporary open patches should be within 500 metres of each other to benefit invertebrate species.
To manage the open space for particular species, identify the habitat they prefer before felling any trees. Search the National Biodiversity Network atlas to find what species might be present.
Avoid:
- clearing areas containing valuable woodland features, such as veteran or ancient trees or rare plants like lichens
- placing roads, rides or tracks on important historic or ecological features
- creating temporary open space on historic features
Do not do any work that could disturb or damage:
- protected species
- semi-natural habitats
- historic features
When to get permission or advice
You’ll normally need permission from the Forestry Commission to fell growing trees. You may need to get other permissions in certain circumstances, even if you do not need a felling licence.
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 fell trees.
You may need to do an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) if you want to work on roads and tracks in sensitive areas. These areas include:
- protected areas, like national parks
- national or local nature reserves
- scheduled monuments
- world heritage sites
- priority habitats
You may also need an EIA if:
- you’re planning to create large areas of permanent open space in an existing woodland
- the road or track project is bigger than 1 hectare
Use MAGIC to identify sensitive areas on your land. If your wood is in a sensitive area, contact your local Forestry Commission office for more advice on best practice and relevant permission.
You might also need:
- planning permission from your local planning authority for work on forest roads and tracks
- consent from Historic England if you’re planning work on a scheduled monument
- consent from Natural England if your land is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
Get advice from the Forestry Commission if you:
- are planning permanent open space in ancient woodland
- want to clear younger trees around veteran trees
- plan to create buffers around historic features
How to create open space
Create new open spaces in woodland where the canopy is dense. You can also remove tree cover to widen and restore existing open spaces. To identify where to do this, look for existing features like:
- open-ground or non-woodland priority habitat
- historic features and structures
- permanently open areas, like tracks or roads
- ponds
- wetland features like springs, flushes and bogs
- overgrown parkland views and vistas
The open areas should form an interconnected mosaic. Temporary open patches should be within 500 metres of each other to benefit invertebrate species.
Scrub and trees can cause damage to historic features. Find out how to remove scrub and trees from sensitive features.
When extending existing open spaces and rides, avoid removing or disturbing trees and areas that are rich in lichens and mosses, some of them may be rare species. Lichens can indicate ancient woodland and favour the edges of woodlands, particularly sheltered, sunny, south-facing edges. Mosses tend to favour damper, more shaded areas.
Create temporary open space
It’s usually a condition of a felling licence for the felled area to revert to trees. You can leave the space fallow for one season, then let the trees regrow or replant them. Trees should reach closed canopy again within 15 years.
When creating temporary open space, incorporate space created by natural tree fall alongside planned tree felling.
Temporary open areas are not usually suitable for protecting historic features. You must find out if you need consent to replant trees on a scheduled monument.
How to manage permanent open space
You’ll need to cut, mow or graze permanent open spaces regularly. This will stop trees and scrub from colonising. Match the management of open spaces to:
- habitat type
- protected or priority species
- historic features
- how the area is used
To avoid the loss of plant species diversity, you could use:
- annual mowing
- periodic or low-level grazing
- no grazing
Avoid overgrazing open spaces by livestock or wild animals. You can do this by managing wild mammal numbers or removing livestock from the site.
Habitat type
Priority habitat within the woodland might need special management. Follow agreed management plans on SSSIs. Find out the best way to manage species rich grassland and manage hay meadows.
Get expert advice from an ecologist if your habitat is:
- upland or lowland heathland
- fen
- blanket bog
Protected or priority species
Some species are legally protected, like bats and dormice. Before you start work, you should:
- find out if you have any protected species in your woodland
- use the protected species checklists to find out how work might affect these species
- check if you need a wildlife licence
Birds, nests and eggs are protected by law. You must check the area before doing anything. If you see signs of nesting birds, delay work until birds fledge.
Where you find hazel dormice, keep an interconnecting tree canopy. This allows dormice to move between patches of woodland.
Identify historic features
Register and request an SFI Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (SFI HEFER) to learn more about historic features on your land.
The HEFER will contain useful information about historic features. Contact your local archaeological officer to check the HEFER and identify all other known historic features like:
- disused burial grounds
- aircraft crash sites
Follow agreed management plans on scheduled monuments.
Avoid:
- letting scrub grow
- creating bare ground
- removing stumps (grind them down instead)
Rides and road verges
Rides are tracks or corridors of open space, which include all the area between the trees on either side.
Keep your rides wide, unless there are species present like dormice that need narrower rides. Wide rides allow light to reach the floor and reduce shade from the surrounding woodland. They’ll also be a more effective fire break.
A wide ride should be approximately 30 metres between the mature trees on the ride edges.
Manage rides and road verges to make sure there are patches of:
- short turf
- medium and tall grass and flowering plants
- coppiced shrubs and bushes with brambles
Make sure there’s a constant supply of these patches. You can:
- manage rides in 50 metre to 100 metre strips
- plant a diverse range of scrub species
- have about 50% scrub cover along rides
- keep small patches of bare ground
- cut vegetation at varying heights
Manage grazing and browsing
Overgrazing and excessive browsing by livestock and wild animals damages the habitat. Browsing animals eat the shoots and leaves of woody plants.
The vegetation becomes dominated by grass and there are few or no woody shrubs. The varied and multi-layered structure disappears and is replaced by just 2 layers of:
- short grass
- lower leaves of trees all browsed to the same height (topiary effect)
Remove livestock from any site before this happens. Wild mammals, particularly deer, can cause this too. Find out how to identify and manage the effects of wild deer.
Cut back shrubs and mow grass
Cut woody shrubs between August and March to avoid disturbing wildlife.
If protected species are present you can download species-specific advice from the Forestry Commission on how to check for and protect these species.
Avoid cutting and mowing all the open areas at the same time. Cutting and mowing on rotation makes sure there’s always suitable habitat for wildlife.
You may need to raise cutting heights on historic earthworks to avoid clipping them.
Avoid winter cutting if there’s a high risk of compaction to wet soils.
Remove grass cuttings to avoid smothering plants. Where this is not possible, thinly scatter them across the site or gather into heaps. Mounds of grass provide valuable breeding habitat for grass snakes.
Pile any woody material (brash) at the edge of the open space. Use another location if ancient woodland plants like bluebells and primroses are present. You can chip the brash if you cannot pile it, but piling is better because it’s less damaging to plants growing under the pile.
Do not burn brash on:
- ancient woodland sites
- historic features
- soils rich in organic matter
Brash piles will not protect coppice regrowth from being eaten by deer or rabbits. Manage mammal numbers or protect trees with guards or fencing.
Keep dead wood
Leave dead and dying tree stumps as well as ground-lying dead wood. These provide habitats for cavity-nesting birds and other species, like fungi.
What open space should look like
Open space breaks up the canopy of the woodland, allowing light to the forest floor. The gaps create sheltered, warm patches that support an abundance of wildlife, like butterflies and other pollinators.
Some patches may be connected through rides, while others may be enclosed within the wood.
The transition between open spaces and the woodland canopy is wide and shrubby, not a hard edge. This provides the varied habitat that support invertebrates, like the red wood ant, through their whole life cycle. It also provides the shrubby areas preferred by many birds like the spotted flycatcher.
The centre of the open area should be mostly short grass and compact flowering plants. Around that there should be a herbaceous layer of mostly medium and tall grasses and flowering plants.
On the outside of the area, you should see a layer of coppice, shrubs, bushes, brambles and the occasional tree, growing up to the woodland canopy.
Historic features should have good sward cover without bare patches and little or no woody scrub. There’ll be no roads, rides or ground disturbance from vehicles or grazing animals on historic features. You should see the shape of historic features like banks and ditches and burial mounds.
