County Wildlife Site Survey by Cornwall Wildlife Trust

The woods management group became aware that Bosahan Woods are classified by Cornwall Council as a ‘County Wildlife Site’. This is a county-specific designation that does not have the statutory significance of, say, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It has meant, though, that we are entitled to a free survey of wildlife in the wood carried out by Cornwall Wildlife Trust, with associated management recommendations. Accordingly, the woods were surveyed earlier in the year by Sue Hocking of CWT.

The report received has some interesting observations and a number of specific recommendations. Perhaps some of the more significant are that we should aim to:

• over time, reduce the beech dominance of the wood, to improve the wildlife value of the wood, and to also increase resilience to climate change;
• remove non-native species with invasive tendencies;
• re-coppice some of the hazel in the formerly coppiced area, with the aim of reintroducing a coppicing rotation;
• make some native shrub plantings to supplement the ‘sparse understory’;
• consider applying for a Countryside Stewardship Woodland Management Plan grant to support production of a 10 year woodland management plan

Adopting these recommendations would in some respects, and in the longer term, change the character of the wood. We will need some significant local consultation on how far and how quickly we move to adopt them. The full report can be read here: