ABSTRACT
No precise information is available as to the size and nature of Britain’s small woodland resource, but in 1992 there were thought to be around 200,000 small woodlands under 10 hectares (ha) with a combined area of about 500,000 ha in the management of some 100,000 owners.1 The area occupied represents between one quarter and one third of the country’s total woodland. In England, about 90 per cent of woodlands are small woods. And small woods continue to be planted in significant numbers; in 1995–96, over 90 per cent of new planting schemes which came under Forestry Authority Woodland Grant Schemes involved areas under 10 hectares. The average area was 2.1 hectares.2
