> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: James Fox > Reference:: [[Craftland]] > Date:: 2025 > Tags:: #warp/book #UK/England > WeftLinks:: [[Environmental value of craft]] > Claim:: [[Claim - Craft production is environmentally responsible]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > The ancient woods wouldn't have survived if left alone. ### Highlights > Britain's oldest trees, some of them several thousand years old, have all reached such maturity as a direct result of regular trimming. > One of them, the heath fritillary butterfly, is so wedded to these outdoor workshops that it's nicknamed the "woodsman's follower". > Since the beginning of the twentieth century 90 percent of Britain's actively coppiced woodlands have vanished, many replaced by vast monocultural grids of conifers. > "There's all this talk nowadays of rewilding," Andrew sighs. "It's a lovely idea, don't get me wrong. But it's often based on a misunderstanding. This woodland, like so many ancient woods around the country, hasn't survived because we left it alone. It's survived because we managed it, coppiced it, thinned it—because we _used_ it. If everything becomes rewilded, species will become completely overwhelmed by other species and die out. By managing our woodlands, you're allowing different plants and animals to live in harmony with each other, and not be swallowed up by bramble and gorse."