Woodlands

Woodlands cover only a small percentage of Jersey’s total land surface, although the fact that many of them occur on Côtils alongside main roads leads some visitors to assume the island is quite well-wooded. The clearance of Jersey’s original forest cover to create farmland began at least 6,000 years ago, when the island was settled by people from the French mainland. Little or none of the original woodland has survived, and most of the woods we see today have either been planted, or have arisen naturally on land which is no longer farmed.

More research needs to be undertaken on the history of Jersey’s woodlands, but it appears that the island may not have had a regular coppicing tradition, unlike much of France and Britain. (Coppicing is a sustainable form of harvesting trees by cutting them down at or near ground level, after which the stumps re-sprout and the trees grow again). Some coppiced trees can however be seen in National Trust for Jersey woods, notably at Fern Valley, and although hedgerow trees probably would have supplied much of the island’s timber needs, the woodlands have certainly been exploited in the past for building material and firewood.

Jersey has far fewer native trees than either France or mainland Britain, although a large number of exotic species now grow here. Pedunculate or Common Oak is one of the most common native trees, and it occurs in most of the Trust’s woods. Centuries old oaks of great size can be seen at several Trust sites, including Fern Valley and Le Pré de Ponterrin. These usually show evidence of past pollarding, another type of traditional management, which involves periodically lopping large branches off the main trunk (a sort of ‘coppice on a stick’!). Such ‘veteran’ trees are of enormous historical and wildlife value; many insect species occur only on very old trees, which can also support rich lichen and fern communities. The various holes, nooks and crannies in such trees are important nesting and roosting sites for birds and bats.

Other common large trees in the Trust’s woods include Sycamore, Sweet Chestnut, Holm or Evergreen Oak, Beech and Ash, of which only the last two are definitely native to Jersey; Chestnut and Holm Oak may be native, but Sycamore is almost certainly an introduction. Elms, although more often associated with hedgerows, also occur in woodland, but most of the larger specimens have been lost to Dutch Elm Disease. Smaller trees and large shrubs to be found in the Trust’s woods include Wild Cherry (especially numerous in Le Grand Côtil de la Cote, the Le Scez woodland), Aspen (mainly in Fern Valley), Hazel, Holly, Elder and Hawthorn. An old and very large Hawthorn pollard can be seen in the Trust’s La Vallette woodland. Willows of several types occur in wetter situations, along with Alder.

The Trust’s woodlands support a wealth of wildlife, ranging from a variety of wildflowers, lichens, ferns and fungi, to insects and small mammals and birds. Springtime sees some of the woods, such as those in St. Peter’s Valley, carpeted with a rich assortment of wildflowers, including Wild Daffodil, Bluebell, Primrose and Wood Sorrel, while a good variety of fungi appear in late summer and autumn. The Red Squirrel is often seen in the larger wooded areas (e.g. la Vallee des Vaux), home also to a wide range of breeding birds. Particularly worthy of mention here is the Greater Spotted Woodpecker, which can sometimes be heard ‘drumming’ on the trunk of a tree.