Comment: Drilling would be a disaster for woodland

The Woodland Trust campaigns tirelessly for the protection, and no further loss of, ancient woodland.

At present our thirst for development on many fronts, from airport expansion plans, road building, commercial and housing developments to mineral extraction, are all threatening irreplaceable ancient woodland sites.

We were shocked to hear the news of another wood in West Sussex under threat.

What was more worrying was the type of threat - oil exploration.

Markwells Wood in the small village of Forestside, to the west of Chichester, is 11 hectares of ancient woodland set in the South Downs area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).

It is now the focus of much debate after a planning proposal was announced by Northern Petroleum to conduct oil exploration there.

Not only is the site within an AONB but it is irreplaceable ancient woodland, land that has been continuously wooded for at least 400 years and one of the great glories of our natural heritage.

If this proposal goes ahead, initially, it will result in the loss of a hectare of ancient woodland which is protected under local, regional and national planning laws.

Should Northern Petroleum find oil, who knows how much of this beautiful area will face destruction?

The trust feels this proposal could be the start of continued and extended destruction of this site.

Ancient woodland is the richest habitat for species in the UK, our equivalent of rainforests.

The majority of species live in fragile undisturbed ancient soils but these woods are also home to a number of species including buzzards, badgers, foxes, hares, stoats, weasels and a variety of songbirds.

These species are all likely to be disturbed by the noise and woodland destruction that any proposal would create.

If planning permission is granted, Northern Petroleum would have three years on the site to clear it, cover it in a layer of stone, set up the tall drilling rig and search for oil.

After the abandonment of the well, the site would be cleared, replanted with trees and shrubs and undergo a five-year scheme of aftercare.

So why are these soils so important?

Ancient woodland is probably the most complex of all habitats and the most reliant on undisturbed conditions for its survival, so it is misleading to indicate this will compensate in any way for the loss of this ancient woodland site.

The problem with the proposed aftercare is that once the rich ancient soil has been disturbed, there is no chance of returning it to its original state.

The undisturbed soils found in ancient woodland are vital to ancient woodland's biodiversity.

Northern Petroleum inappropriately suggests the site can be restored through storing of the soils that will be removed during the construction of the proposal and then replaced to allow re-establishment of vegetation through natural regeneration and replanting.

Many plant species have poor powers of dispersal and do not appear to survive in a seed bank so once lost from a wood they are extremely slow to return, having been built up for hundreds of years.

Ancient woodlands are places of inordinate beauty, reservoirs of evidence for environmental change, archaeology and economic history and a source of inspiration for local culture and folklore. Our resource of ancient woodland is finite and cannot increase so what remains is precious and irreplaceable.

Markwells Wood is a planted ancient woodland site (PAWS), ancient woodland planted with nonnative species, mostly during the 20th century, with the intention of providing a strategic timber reserve.

Research has shown that in PAWS, remnant historic and ecological features still survive among the soil and plantation crop.

These remnants provide vital links back to the original ancient woodland.

By acting now we can make a major contribution towards securing and maintaining some of Britain's most valuable and threatened habitats.

The most obvious ancient woodland remnants commonly surviving in PAWS are deadwood trees, understorey shrubs, archaeological features and woodland plants which are associated with less obvious remnants of the ancient woodland ecosystem such as soils, lower plants, fungi and invertebrates.

In PAWS their populations are often depleted and fragmented, making them especially vulnerable to disruption. Not only will Northern Petroleum's initial exploration have the above implications but the trust also has concern over the impact of noise and truck movements in the protected area, especially the effects of the 24 hours a day drilling operation.

A 36m tall drilling rig which will extend well above the tree-line threatens to damage the aesthetic beauty of the area.

Woods like this are irreplaceable and if we continue to disregard these green spaces in the hunt for development there won't be any left for future generations to enjoy.

The trust is not alone in objecting to the proposal. Chichester District Council, the South Downs Joint Committee, West Sussex County Council's own landscape officer and ecologist and the community are against the plan because of the long-lasting damaging effect this would have on the surrounding area.

For more information on the Woodland Trust's fight to protect ancient woodland, visit www.

woodlandtrust.org.uk.

Should progress be at any cost or are we going too far?