A NEW native woodland providing a valuable habitat for wildlife is to be created in The Dales.

Broadleaved native trees such as ash and sessile oak are to be planted over 81 and a half acres at Blea Gill, near Grimwith, just a few miles from Grassington.

The scheme is one of three projects in the Yorkshire Dales National Park to create a total of 190 acres of new native woodland to have received financial backing from the Forestry Commission in partnership with English Nature and the national park.

The grant, worth £119,731 in total, is a one-off payment to private landowners to encourage them to plant native trees.

The other new woodlands are near Keld in Swaledale and at Cotterdale Gill in Wensleydale.

The Dales, once covered by vast tracts of forest, now has just 0.7 per cent of woodland.

Clive Kirkbride, of the national park, said: "The gill is at the extreme north west corner of Grimwith reservoir and has a nice waterfall through it. It is now essentially bracken covered with some remnants of tree cover. We are suggesting that it would have been more wooded in the past and the idea is to build on that and create a large new area of native woodland.

"There are also some interesting archaeological features there and we will be building them into the management plans," said Mr Kirkbride.

The wood will provide a diverse habitat on the edge of moorland which will encourage woodland birds, such as nuthatch, tree creepers and pied flycatchers.

"While they are not particularly rare, their numbers are declining. We hope a range of fairly common birds that depend on woodland habitats will be attracted here. We are excited about this," Mr Kirkbride added.

Planting is expected to start in the next growing season, and the Forestry Authority, which is part of the Forestry Commission, is now inviting grant bids for the next round of funding for new woods.

Application packs are available from the Forestry Authority, Wheldrake Lane, Crockley Hill, York, YO1 4SG, tel 01904 448778.

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