With good management of a small woodland, we can actually improve on nature by producing more ‘edge’ habitat (or ‘ecotone’). There is more biodiversity (number of species) where two habitats meet, for example grassland and woodland, than in each of those habitats themselves. A small woodland often contains trees all of the same age, so there is a canopy of the same height, casting a shadow that prevents ground flora or re-growth. A management regime consisting of felling, thinning and re-planting creates an edge ecosystem from high canopy right down to grass.
Management can also improve the health of individual trees, via thinning and the digging of drainage ditches.

Other benefits include:

• local, renewable production of building materials and firewood (reducing transport distances)
• reducing carbon emissions from building materials and heating fuel
• the planting of new woodland provides totally new habitats for wildlife
• opening paths through existing woods, and planting new ones improves amenities and awareness of the natural world