1. Fingle from the wildwood A story of a changing climate, prehistoric people, their descendents and their impacts

2. Conservationists do no service to woodland if they try to remake it on the image of what they imagine wildwood was like Oliver Rackham 2006

3. Factoids

4. Fully developed wildwood 6200-3800BC = 8200-5800BP Ancient Woodland its history, vegetation and uses in England New Edition Oliver Rackham

7. 9000 years ago

8. History of the British Flora – A factual basis for phytogeography Sir Harry Godwin

9. Vegetation types throughout the Holocene

10. Pollen diagram from Blacklane IG Simmons 1963 10,000 – 4000BP

12. The Field Archaeology of Dartmoor Phil Newman

13. Historic cultures

14. Spinster’s Rock Stone circles Stone Rows Hut Circles Reaves

15. The History of British Mammals Derek Yalden

16. Previous interglacial and last ice age Woolly Mammoth Reindeer Tarpan Auroch Saiga Red deer Elk Irish Elk Mountain hare Lemmings Pika Brown bear Arctic fox Red fox Wolf Spotted hyena Lion Sabre toothed cat Lynx Wolverine Beaver Bison Climate cold, man the hunter, open grassy vegetation Lessons from history - our lost mammal heritage

17. 10,000 - 5,000 years ago post glacial - warming up nicely Red deer Roe deer Elk Wild boar Auroch Beaver Brown bear Wolf Pine marten Red fox Species which had disappeared Tarpan Reindeer Casualties of Mesolithic hunters? Covered in ‘woodland’, joined to continent until 8000BP

18. 5000 - 2000 years ago New Stone Age to Roman occupation Some Auroch, wolves, wild boar domesticated Predators become scarcer e.g. brown bear Elk and lynx become extinct House mouse, black rat introduced Woodlands cleared, hunter/gathers become farmers

19. 2000 BP - Present ever increasing pressure on wild places Auroch and bear go extinct during Roman times Beaver extinct by 1600 Wolf and boar go extinct in Middle Ages Wild cat, polecat and pine martin pushed towards extinction during 18C Fallow deer and rabbits introduced by Romans Grey squirrels, muntjac, water deer, sika, mink, edible dormouse introduced this century muskrat and coypu introduced and then exterminated A warm spell, minor sea level rise, mammals harassed

20. Grazing Ecology and Forest History Frans Vera

21. European herbivores - past and present. Do domestic grazers used for nature conservation management today in the UK fulfil the same roles?

22. Knepp - Sussex

23. Google Yellowstone, Monbiot, Wolves Trophic cascades

24. Lynx Apex predators

25. Pine marten

26. Red squirrel

27. European beaver Keystone species

28. Wild Boar Another key woodland Keystone species

29. So – where does this all leave us with Fingle Woods today?

30. There has been a lot of change over the past 12,000 years Some caused by the climate Some caused by people There are also many mysteries What did the wildwood really look like? How was it cleared?

31. ‘Fingle Woods’ has probably been exploited by humans for 6000 years The task now is to try and make it more ‘natural’ Allow nature to make the place more resilient Just because the pollen record shows lime occurred – doesn’t mean it can now be planted Use what there is….

32. Future challenges Diseases Herbivores Climate change People

33. Diseases Lots to worry about here

34. Oak mildew Will oak regenerate and does it need more light?

35. Ash die back Reports of my death has been greatly exaggerated

36. Ash borer beetle A real worry

37. Herbivores No Apex predators No keystone species which were hebivores Wild boar in the UK are not Wild Boar Keep on top of the herbivores to give the trees and other plants a chance Keep an eye out for muntjac

38. The Polecat story

39. Climate change The big lesson of the last 12,000 years is that nature is good at dealing with climate change

40. Decline of NVC W11

41. Sessile oak in Europe

42. People The problem and the solution

43. Remember why Fingle Woods was bought – bigger, joined up and better managed for wildlife, people and the historic environment

44. Over the centuries, people have changed the appearance of the landscape from heathland and wild woods to oak coppice and then to conifer, driven by local and then national need, influenced by fashion and economics. As a result, the gorge has been dressed in different ways. In the coming decades, we want to help the gorge to clothe itself again, reverting to its more natural state. Fingle Wood’s inheritance will help shape its future, making it a place of conservation in a changing environment, and inspiration and enjoyment for everyone – today and for the generations to come.