The bluebells are out!

Around 40% of the 132 acres of publicly-owned land at Maidenhead Golf Course is mature native woodland, and these areas are now full of beautiful bluebells.

There are two acres of Ancient Woodland at Rushington Copse and a number of veteran trees are present. Ancient trees hold essential biodiversity that has enormous repercussions for a local area if lost, as the habitats take decades, if not centuries, to build up.

Sadly thousands of mature trees on the golf course are under threat from development, inevitably leading to the loss of wildlife in the area.

To celebrate these rich natural assets so close our town centre, we’ve listed some key facts about the ecological value of native woodlands and veteran trees:

1. If the tree is native and veteran, it automatically supports more biodiversity as the species has been present and integrated with natural systems since the ice age;
2. Veteran trees provide nutrition, shelter and anchorage to a whole ecosystem of species and the richness of species a tree supports generally increases with age;
3. In Europe, an estimated 30% of forest-dwelling birds use tree cavities;
4. The pockets or cavities which exist in veteran trees provide nesting places for endangered invertebrates. For example, Saproxylic insects that live in decaying wood, are one of the most threatened invertebrates in Europe;
5. Habitats take decades to build up. Uprooting a tree and replacing it with another (younger) tree, even a short distance from the original one, is likely to only have ornamental value and no real ecological benefits for several decades; and
6. Replacing a tree is detrimental to the mycorrhizal qualities of the soil, refuge points for bats and other animals in the local ecosystem, transient nesters, permanent nesters and the breeding cycles of the animals and birds relying on them.

To see the bluebells in the woodlands on Maidenhead Golf Course, you can walk along the public footpath that crosses the site https://maidenheadgreatpark.co.uk/explore-your-local-greenspace

For more information about biodiversity on Maidenhead Golf Course, go to: https://maidenheadgreatpark.co.uk/ecology-reports-show-biodiversity-importance-of-maidenhead-golf-course-woodlands