Ride Management
Rides and glades within woodlands are important features often rich in flora, small mammals and invertebrates.
The Forestry Commission has an ongoing programme of mowing woodland rides during two periods in the year: late summer for rides with botanical interest (a hay-meadow treatment) or winter for rides with invertebrate interest.
To facilitate public access on selected rides, a central strip is mown more frequently to allow visitors to view wildlife without the need for special footwear.
The Limewoods Project has supported work on these important rides to enhance their biodiversity, including coppicing of ride edges to create a scalloped effect. This creates a more diverse woodland structure and can also help to avoid a “wind tunnel” effect whereby trees may be lost in high winds. A great deal of this work has been carried out by voluntary groups including the Lincoln Conservation Group who have been working at Scotgrove Wood for several years.
