§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of each county was covered by ancient woodland in(a) 1983, (b) 1993 and (c) 2003. [165750]
§ Mr. BradshawAn initial inventory of ancient woodland was undertaken in the 1980s. Some counties have been fully resurveyed since then, and some sites newly added or deleted. To update the inventory country-wide, English Nature has begun a 10 county pilot project using digital boundaries and aerial 859W photography. This pilot will be complete in June 2004. The following table provides the best data available at present.
Percentage cover of ancient woodland1 by county from 1980s and 1990s Percentage cover from: Original data Most recent County2 (1981–88) data (1998) Avon 2.4 2.3 Bedfordshire 2.1 2.1 Berkshire 4.6 4.4 Buckinghamshire 4.5 4.7 Cambridgeshire 0.8 0.8 Cheshire 0.7 0.7 Cleveland 2.5 2.4 Cornwall 1.9 1.9 Cumbria 2.3 2.3 Derbyshire 1.7 1.7 Devon 2.2 2.2 Dorset 2.9 2.9 Durham 1.7 1.7 East Sussex 10.4 10.4 Essex 2.4 2.4 Gloucestershire 6.7 6.8 Greater London 1.6 1.6 Greater Manchester 0.6 0.6 Hampshire 7.5 7.7 Hereford and Worcester 4.7 4.7 Hertfordshire 3.3 3.5 Humberside 0.2 0.2 Isle of Wight 4.1 4.1 Kent 8.0 7.9 Lancashire 0.9 0.9 Leicestershire 1.0 1.0 Lincolnshire 1.0 1.0 Merseyside 0.2 0.2 Norfolk 0.5 0.5 North Yorkshire 1.7 1.7 Northamptonshire 2.7 2.8 Northumberland 1.0 1.0 Nottinghamshire 1.0 1.0 Oxfordshire 2.9 2.9 Shropshire 2.7 2.7 Somerset 2.6 2.6 South Yorkshire 2.9 2.9 Staffordshire 2.1 2.1 Suffolk 1.1 1.1 Surrey 5.8 5.8 Tyne and Wear 2.0 2.0 Warwickshire 2.1 2.1 West Midlands 0.8 0.8 West Sussex 8.5 8.6 West Yorkshire 1.7 1.7 Wiltshire 3.7 3.7 1Ancient woodlands are areas that have been continually wooded since 1600. There are two types of ancient woodland—ancient semi-natural woodlands and plantations on ancient woodland sites. 2Post-1974 counties. Source: English Nature.