Woodland Regeneration and
Management
Comprehensive Woodland Regeneration and Management Services
1. Ecological Surveys and Health Assessments
Every woodland project starts with a site visit. Our team walks the woodland with you to assess tree health, understorey condition, invasive species, soil quality, and existing wildlife. We look at what’s working, what’s struggling, and where the opportunities are.
This isn’t a tick-box exercise. It’s a proper conversation about what you want from your woodland — whether that’s better access, more wildlife, productive coppice, or simply a healthier, more resilient space. Our ecological surveys cover Surrey, Sussex and the surrounding counties.
2. Tailored Woodland Management Plans
We prepare tailored management plans that meet the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS). These are often eligible for Forestry Commission grant funding, which can cover the cost of the plan itself.
A typical woodland management plan covers:
- Selective thinning to open up the canopy and let light reach the woodland floor
- Coppicing — cutting trees back to their base to encourage regrowth, create new habitat, and produce sustainable timber
- Glade creation to support wildflowers, butterflies and ground-nesting birds
- Ride and path improvements for better access without damaging the woodland
- Native planting schemes suited to local soil and conditions
- Invasive species control — particularly rhododendron, laurel and Himalayan balsam, which are common across Surrey woodlands
You can use the plan as a guide for managing the woodland yourself, or our team can carry out the work for you.
3. Habitat Restoration
Many of the woodlands we work with in Surrey have been neglected for decades. Dense laurel and rhododendron take over the understorey, ivy smothers mature trees, and ground-level habitat disappears entirely.
We restore these woodlands by removing invasive species carefully, using a mix of manual, mechanical and targeted chemical methods. We create habitat features like log piles, dead hedges and hibernation spots for amphibians and invertebrates. We open up clearings where wildflowers and woodland edge plants can establish, and replant with native species — hazel, field maple, wild cherry, hawthorn, and others suited to the area.
Woodland edges are often the most biodiverse part of any woodland, and refining these margins is one of the most effective things you can do for wildlife.
4. Long-Term Stewardship
Woodland management isn’t a one-off job. We offer ongoing stewardship that includes annual health checks, biodiversity monitoring, and seasonal maintenance — clearing paths, managing regrowth, and checking tree safety.
We update management plans as the woodland changes and matures, and we can coordinate responses to storm damage or emerging threats like ash dieback. We also advise on grant applications and ongoing funding opportunities to help cover the cost of management.
Some of our woodland clients have been with us since we started, and those long-term relationships are what make the work rewarding.
We work with private landowners, estates, schools, parishes and conservation groups across Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire. Whether your woodland needs a light touch or a full restoration, we start with the ecology and build a plan around what the land actually needs.
Our team is based in Dorking and we’re particularly experienced with ancient woodland in the Surrey Hills AONB, heavy clay woodland across the Sussex Weald, and heathland-edge sites on Surrey’s sandy soils. We’re members of BALI and partners of the Surrey Wildlife Trust.
