60,000 trees later, lost English woodland is returning with more bird species

An ambitious upland restoration project in Cumbria has turned a once-bare area of sheep-grazed fell into a thriving habitat, bringing back lost native woodland and attracting 11 new breeding bird species since 2016. The project at Tebay Common began in 2012 through a partnership between local farmers, landowner Lonsdale Estates, and the Woodland Trust. It was supported by a 10-year government agri-environment scheme. By fencing sheep and semi-feral fell ponies out of 26 hectares of the 128-hectare fell, conservationists allowed 60,000 native trees to grow across the landscape. Research monitoring by South Lakes Ecology and field data collected for the Woodland Trust found that reducing heavy grazing allowed long-dormant seed banks to recover. This has led to what ecologists call "ghost woodlands".Ghost woodlands return to the Cumbrian fellsFor centuries, heavy livestock grazing stopped young trees from growing across the Cumbrian uplands.