About the forest plan area

Hardknott Forest and Rainsbarrow Wood are owned freehold by Forestry England and occupy an area of 630 ha and 50 ha respectively. They are located in the southwest part of the Lake District National Park with Rainsbarrow close to the hamlet of Ulpha, whilst Hardknott occupies an area at the heart of the Duddon Valley. The woods are mostly used for quiet recreation by locals and visitors to Harter Fell.

Forestry England’s management objectives for the woodlands are to restore the ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW), improve the SSSI’s condition and balance the production of quality timber. This builds on the long-standing decision by Forestry England (previously Forestry Commission) to move Hardknott away from being a large scale non-native conifer plantation, to a more diverse woodland based primarily on native broadleaved species and Scots pine. Rainsbarrow Forest was extensively planted with beech in the early 1960s and the objective is to manage change towards other native broadleaved species.

The proposals in this forest plan continues the process of change to enhance the woodlands’ biodiversity, at the same time improving their resilience to climate change and facilitating quiet recreation in line with the Lake District National Park Character Assessment.

Key to the restoration work has been the partnership formed between Forestry England and Leeds University, and the resulting ‘Restoring Hardknott Forest’ project in 2003. This has been followed by the Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery Scheme in 2023 of which Hardknott Forest falls within a wider catchment area, alongside neighbouring land owners, environmental organisations and farmers to deliver a landscape wide environmental project. The forest plans for Hardknott and Rainsbarrow compliment and work alongside the aims and objectives of the Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery Scheme.

The woodlands contain many historic and cultural features associated with past land uses dating back centuries. These include Birks Bridge, a Grade II Listed Building, copper mines and multiple quarry/charcoal activities. The largest cultural significance associate with Hardknott was the original afforestation. This was highly contentious at the time, causing much debate and resulted in the 1936 Agreement between the Forestry Commission and the then, Council for the Preservation of Rural England (now known as Friends of the Lake District), for no further largescale conifer afforestation in the central area of the Lake District.

Objectives of the plan

Our aim is to create a more diverse and resilient woodlands, with a greater range of species and habitats.

Objectives for wildlife

• Phytophthora felling has resulted in many stands being felled early. Continue to retain stands of older crop where physically possible to help maintain structural diversity in the forest during the initial period of transformation to reduce possible environmental impacts.
• Expansion of the low impact silviculture (LISS) areas will be enhanced through thinning.
• Continued restoration of ancient woodland sites in Hardknott and Rainsbarrow to improve SSSI favourable condition. 
• Maintain and improve habitats for species, including red qquirrel and dormice.

Objectives for people

• Increased landscape diversity through native species planting will improve the visual appeal of the forest for visitors. 
• Continue to work with the Hardknott partnership to encourage use of the forest for public engagement and educational activities. 
• Continue to develop a desirable forest landscape complementing the objectives of regional landscape designations.
• Historic features will be routinely identified and protected during our planning and implementation of forest operations.

Objectives for climate

• While production will be skewed over the next few years by plant health derived clear-fells, this forest plan sets out opportunities for future low impact silviculture management (LISS).  Thereafter, the use of thinning interventions will continue to provide a sustainable yield of broadleaved timber into the future for local wood markets.
• The natural regeneration of much of Hardknott will be supplemented by enrichment planting of other species to build a more resilient forest. The continued use of thinning interventions will create a structurally diverse and resilient forest over time.

What we'll do

Over the next 10-year period we will:

• execute the felling plans to harvest non-native conifers over the 10 years to 2036.
• encourage natural regeneration to achieve the future habitats proposals to drive the change in forest structure. Use supplementary planting of other species to increase diversity where appropriate.
• implement silvicultural thinning operations to control conifer regeneration and diversify structure.  
• implement silvicultural thinning operations in Rainsbarrow to diversify structure. 
• place greater importance on deer management and removing sheep from the forest to protect palatable conifers and broadleaves. To achieve establishment of alternative species to Sitka spruce, we will use deer fencing where it is necessary. 

For further information regarding the future management of Hardknott & Rainsbarrow please refer to the full plan in the link below.