Speeding up "nature recovery"

I have been working in woodland creation for a long time and I am often surprised at how quickly 'nature ' comes back.

This is part of a 4,500 ha woodland creation site we are working on in the lowlands.

Orchids rely on mycorrhizal fungi in complex symbiotic relationships and are hence normally take some time to colonise 'new' sites. e.g. 30 years.

This particular site was bare earth arable until four years ago with a 100% chemical spray.

It is incredible to see how quickly it has been re-colonised by orchids. It appears that they have spread from the adjacent spruce plantation, where they are present.

Interestingly, they are across the site, including in the ride network so I expect them to be a permanent addition to the forest.

Apart from vegetation, another notably rapid re-coloniser is hares. We have joked that as you turn over the ground to plant it, the hares leap out of the ground. The fresh vegetation and cover leads to an explosion in the population- which has to be measured to be believed!

Of course, voles also thrive in this vegetation- which is not good news for foresters. However, it is good news for species such as short-eared owls. We have also noted merlin breeding next on our new planting sites-feeding on the small birds and voles. This is interesting as the RSPB distribution guide does not show them present in this area.