The Forestry Commission England (FCE) has responded to the proposed high speed rail link, (HS2), between London and the West Midlands that will pass through the Chilterns and Warwickshire.
The Commission said that 29 hectares of ancient woodland would be destroyed and that some major losses from the rail line could not be reduced.
The high speed rail plan proposed by the Department of Transport (DoT), has considered (.pdf) ways to reduce the line's impact such as avoiding Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), by slowing the train to reduce the noise near cities or altering the route to change how it marks the landscape.
Natural England are responsible for ancient woodlands and they have said that one ancient forest that would be damaged is in the Chilterns.
There would also be damage to SSSIs near to Brackley, Long Itchington and Ufton Wood near Leamington Spa, the Colne Valley in Denham and the River Blythe near Coleshill.
The FCE said that the value of ancient woodlands 'cannot be mitigated', and they emphasised their importance to wildlife, referring to a government white paper on protecting the forests.
"Ancient woodland is a valuable biodiversity resource both for its diversity of species and for its longevity as woodland. Once lost is cannot be recreated," the report said.
The FCE also drew attention to another excerpt from the white paper about the impact upon animal tracks, such as deer, with it saying 'networks of natural habitats provide a valuable resource providing routes or stepping stones for the migration, dispersal and genetic exchange of species in the wider environment'.
That is to say that by fragmenting the habitat, it disrupts the animals, birds and insects living there beyond the loss of the immediate area.
If the rail line goes ahead, 125 hectares would be lost in total. Of this, 29 is ancient woodland and 13 is publicly accessible woodland. Ancient woodland is land that has been continuously wooded since 1600.
In total, the rail line will be just under 200km long with 31km being on existing railway.
The FCE has said that some rare species such as the Bechstein's bat are along the proposed route and are connected to 'old established stands of trees' and that they should be given alternative woodlands.
One way to do this is by adapting similar habitats, rather than starting from scratch with new plantings. The FCE also said that deer 'green bridges' or underground train tunnels justify further expense.
The Natural England analysis (pdf) of the HS2 line recommends that the same methods are applied as in the HS1 rail line.
These include moving species, like dormice, snakes, newts or slow worms to new or adapted sites with special nesting boxes, to replanting reed beds, chalk grasslands, or rare plants, like the mouse-ear plant.
The Department of Transport would aim to plant two million trees but the FCE asked for more woodlands to be created. They also said that construction work should make use of wood instead of steel and concrete, where possible, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
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