Our ancient woodlands are one of our most precious and gorgeous habitats, and as the name suggest, quite old! They are irreplaceable habitats, which have developed specific floral communities that are unique and really quite special.

There are lists of indicator species for ancient woodland to help us spot them and tell them apart from regular parcels of deciduous woodland. What’s worth noting is that ancient woodland indicator species can vary according to the part of the country you’re in, so its always worth doing further research to what is local and relevant to the area you’re in!

But in general, here are some ancient woodland indicator species that we have in the UK that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing: