A disturbing conclusion from the recent State of Nature report, compiled by a coalition of environmental organisations, was that 60% of the species studied have declined over recent decades. More than one in ten of all the species assessed are under threat of disappearing from our shores altogether; and this trend is worryingly mirrored in Surrey and across the south east of England  …    This decline is occurring despite a 5% increase in woodland cover since 1990. According to the Surrey Wildlife Trust, the present approach where most woodland is unmanaged is simply not working. A more intentional, strategic approach to woodland management is needed.

In 2011 Sable Wood, unmanaged for the last two or three decades, exhibited some of the signs of decline: growing dominance by a few species, particularly non-native invasive species, with consequent loss of biodiversity, diminution of aesthetic appeal and an impoverished home for wildlife.

A first Management Plan  was completed in January 2014.  Management of Sable Wood is designed to

• maintain a healthy age distribution of trees and other vegetation
• enable light to reach the woodland floor
• protect and promote the ecosystems that are naturally consistent with the climate, the underlying geology and soil, and the flora and fauna they support

Management will follow a closed cover approach.  No area will be clear-felled of undesirable species; rather there will be a progressive and relatively slow thinning of undesired species at a rate that allows native species to naturally take their place.