Roles:

Land owners and managers:

• follow best practice in managing their Wet Woodlands for wildlife;
• take up opportunities to restore or create Wet Woodlands.
• create Wet Woodland in absence of other significant priority habitats.

Barnsley Council as planning authority:

• sets conditions in planning applications to ensure that the biodiversity value of Wet Woodlands are maintained and enhanced
• issues Tree Preservation Orders

Natural England: administers stewardship grant schemes for woodland creation or improvement, tree health support, or for preparing woodland management plan.

Forestry Commission

• licenses felling and approves woodland management plans
• provides guidelines and sets conditions to protect biodiversity.

Woodland Trust:offers advice and provides trees for planting

Environment Agency: assess areas for woodland creation to reduce flood risk.

Voluntary groups and volunteers:

• woodland management and planting;
• collect information about condition of woodlands and provide records of wildlife.

Wet Woodland: Key objectives

• Raise awareness of importance of Wet Woodland for biodiversity
• Review the extent, type and condition of Wet Woodland habitat in areas identified along river and stream floodplains in Barnsley.
• Analyse records of populations and assemblages of species in Wet Woodlands, including Willow Tit, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, etc, .
• Identify additional Wet Woodland sites of high conservation value and propose designation as Local Wildlife Sites.
• Improve the conservation value of Wet Woodland sites through positive conservation management, including controlling invasive species.
• Identify sites for Wet Woodland planting and undertake a phased planting programme to contribute to nature recovery networks especially where it would reduce flooding by slowing down and storing water

What is being done

• Woodland planting by BMBC & VAB in NIA included Wet Woodland.
• Management plans for Worsbrough and Elsecar country park Willow Carrs
• Worsbrough Reservoir Willow Carr works to raise water table. BMBC 2017
• Wet Woodland creation at Houghton washland. RSPB.2017-18
• Wet Woodland management as part of Back from the Brink project Willow Tit project 2017-21
• Wet Woodland conservation management at Worsbrough, Carlton Marsh and The Fleets. BMBC, YWT 2019-21

Proposed actions

• Complete inventory of existing and potential Wet Woodland sites.
• Further restoration of Wet Woodland including natural flood management at sites such as Lewden,
• Willow Carr/Wet Woodland conservation in line with management plans
• Wet Woodland planting
• Further Wet Woodland sites proposed for designation as LWS.
• Additional Wet Woodland LWS in positive conservation management and favourable condition. 2022-30

Marking progress

• No reduction in extent of Willow Carr or other Wet Woodland habitat
• Wet Woodland habitat created
• Corridors between Wet Woodland sites established and maintained
• Wet Woodland sites cleared of invasive Himalayan Balsam
• Wet Woodland sites in positive conservation management and in or moving towards favourable condition

Wet Woodland Actions