Planting trees to create a Wilder Skiddaw Forest and England’s highest nature reserve

The benefits of trees are numerous and we've listed just a few of them below.

Trees can:

• provide habitats for wildlife such as pollinating insects,
• improve air quality,
• offer shelter from harsh weather for livestock and wildlife,
• absorb carbon, helping to counter climate change,
• improve soil quality and prevent erosion,
• help to reduce flooding,
• create a great place to relax or exercise,
• improve the beauty of our landscapes for us and future generations.

In partnership with Aviva, we'll plant around 300,000 broadleaved tree saplings.

We plan to commence tree planting within the first year and this should be completed, if all goes well, after 5-10 years. We'll prioritise a range of tree and scrub species, mimicking the classic and familiar broadleaved woodlands of the Lake District fells and dales with common trees like birch, oak and rowan but including absent and poorly represented species such as aspen and rare mountain willows.

We will also encourage the enhanced natural regeneration of trees and scrub by spreading locally-sourced seeds on the slopes where we’d like to establish native woodland.

We suspect that natural species of woodland fungi that are usually present in broadleaved woodland will not be present in the open areas of fell on Skiddaw Forest. These are important for the growth of trees and scrub so we'll be experimenting with different techniques to introduce these fungi with the tree seeds and plants. This may be as straightforward as simply bringing in handfuls of leaf litter from Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s nearby temperate rainforest woodland nature reserve at Ivy Crag Wood above Bassenthwaite Lake.

Because of the conditions at Skiddaw Forest and having listened to the experience of other similar projects, such as the inspirational Carrifran project near Moffat, we'll be using small trees whose root systems tend to cope better with getting established than larger standards.

There are no time limits and the project vision for our partnership with Aviva covers the first 100 years. This is a long-term programme with no end point.

Most of the area will support upland oak-birch woodland of National Vegetation Classification types W11 and W17 with rowan, holly, hazel, hawthorn, aspen and other species.

The richer lower ground will carry more diverse broadleaved woodland  including bird cherry, alder, wych elm and guelder rose, while high wet rocky areas on the slopes are suited to type W4 birch woodland with alder and willows. At around 700m is an area suited to W19 juniper woodland with downy birch, rowan and W20 downy willow scrub, juniper and other hardy species.

The establishment of montane scrub is one of our objectives. Montane scrub is a form of high-altitude tree-line woodland. The habitat occurs at the very highest limits of woodland growth and consists of low, stunted and dwarfed species of trees, shrubs, dwarf-shrubs and alpine wildflowers.

In the UK, montane scrub is now a very rare, fragmented and isolated habitat. The barren expanses of species-poor grassland above 600m in the Lake District and southern uplands have long been viewed by ecologists as a sad result of intensive domestic grazing over many centuries. We aim to demonstrate that these neglected areas can be transformed into beautiful natural habitats, with diverse communities of plants, animals and fungi.

Inspired by the Borders Forest Trust and their work at Carrifran near Moffat, we think about 44 woody species are appropriate altogether and some will need active intervention. The Carrifran Wildwood project and their Wildwood Group compiled a list of the trees, shrubs and other woody species native to the Carrifran valley; this has been modified subsequently and for Skiddaw Forest.

The following woody species are considered appropriate to form part of a functioning woodland and moorland ecosystem:

• Alder, Alnus glutinosa
• Aspen, Populus tremula
• Bay willow, Salix pentandra
• Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
• Bird cherry, Prunus padus
• Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa
• Bog myrtle, Myrica gale
• Broom, Sarothamnus scoparius
• Burnet rose, Rosa pimpinellifolia
• Cloudberry, Rubus chamaemorus
• Crab apple, Malus sylvestris
• Creeping willow, Salix repens
• Dark-leaved willow, Salix myrsinifolia
• Dog rose, Rosa canina
• Downy birch, Betula pubescens
• Downy-rose, Rosa caesia
• Dwarf willow, Salix herbacea
• Eared willow, Salix aurita
• Elder, Sambucus nigra
• Ling (heather), Calluna vulgaris
• Goat willow, Salix caprea
• Gorse, Ulex europaeus
• Grey willow, Salix cinerea
• Guelder rose, Viburnum opulus
• Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna 
• Hazel, Corylus avellana
• Holly, Ilex aquifolium
• Honeysuckle, Lonicera aquifolium
• Ivy, Hedera helix
• Juniper, Juniperus communis
• Petty whin, Genista anglica
• Purple willow, Salix purpurea
• Raspberry, Rubus idaeus
• Rowan, Sorbus aucuparia
• Sessile oak, Quercus petraea
• Sherard’s downy-rose, Rosa sherardii
• Soft downy-rose, Rosa spp
• Small-leaved lime, Tilia cordata
• Tea-leaved willow, Salix phylicifolia
• Wych elm, Ulmus glabra
• Yew, Taxus baccata

We don't plan to use full size tree shelters and stakes at Skiddaw Forest. We anticipate that the trees could suffer damage by voles and mice which can strip bark from stems in the early years, and so we may protect them with unobtrusive vole guards.

These biodegradable guards of a muted natural colour are made from wool.  They’re 20cm high and do not require staking. We hope they'll have minimal visual intrusion and will not need to be retrieved when the trees have grown.

From the outset, seeds of appropriate provenance will be collected by volunteers and others. These will be sourced from native trees and woodland as locally as possible, and especially from ancient woodland fragments that still have wild trees. In practice, this will often mean scaling steep gills to find remnant populations. Sites at approximately the same height above sea level, and from the more westerly side of the country are ideal.

We plan to collect seed from at least 20 trees of each species to ensure genetic diversity. There are some suitable stock trees, including some natural regeneration, within a short distance of Skiddaw Forest (e.g. nearby Dodd Wood).

Seeds will be grown by local community groups at a network of local nurseries we hope to set-up. We'll also send seeds to professional nurseries to be propagated and grown in bulk in root trainers. These cell-grown saplings are easy to transport and plant, and seem to take more easily than bare-rooted ones.

Land-owner consent is always needed in advance, so seeds cannot be collected casually. If you're interested in joining our Seed Collection and Tree-growing Groups as a volunteer, please contact us.

At the moment, deer are absent from Skiddaw Forest. Native deer species are a natural and essential element in the grazing of habitats by large herbivores.

However, in the absence of native predators, the numbers of both roe and red deer can increase and become problematic by causing significant impacts on habitats undergoing restoration. For example, planted trees can be at risk from deer browsing and peatland restoration areas may be vulnerable to trampling damage. We will therefore monitor the site carefully in case the deer grazing pressure changes. 

If we encounter severe problems in future, reluctantly some control measures may be necessary to safeguard habitat restoration until it’s robust and resilient enough to withstand any excessive deer impacts.