The Woodland Management works taking place in Diamond Wood, Camberley have been commissioned by Stihl to offset the impact of their development works on the Doman Road Industrial Estate in Camberley. 

The programme of works will help the woodland become a more biodiverse woodland environment, whilst at the same time helping it cope with the increasing threat from pests, disease and the effects of climate change. 

Works began last year (2021), reducing the exotic, invasive plants such as laurel and snowberry which spread rapidly across the woodland, reducing the native woodland ground flora and suppressing the regeneration of young trees. 

This winter saw the woodland being thinned. Thinning a woodland is vital to help the development of the trees as they grow and need more space. Also, without thinning, the ground flora doesn’t get enough light to flourish and eventually dies out, leaving the bare soil at risk of erosion from wind and rain.  

Around 15% of the pine trees were removed, which should help encourage the woodland ground flora like bramble, and young native trees like birch and rowan, to grow. This helps to hold the soil together and provides nectar, seed and berries for butterflies, moths and small mammals. Over time the main path through the middle of the wood will be gradually widened to allow heathland plants like heather to begin to spread out from the one or two areas they grow at the moment.  

The next thinning of this woodland will be due in around 2030, and will continue to create more open glades and paths within the woodland. This will benefit heathland plants, insects, birds and mammals that are associated with them.  

In the meantime, small scale operations will take place sporadically to help the woodland increase its ecological value, whilst still providing a great place for people to enjoy. 

More details on the scheme can be found in the planning applications document archive.