Ant empire to be protected in Holystone Wood

Nov 5 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

AN ant “empire” is to be protected as a major project starts to remodel a Northumbrian woodland.

Satellite technology has been used to give 69 large nests made by the hairy northern wood ant – the UK’s biggest – a GPS “address” to be plotted on hi-tech maps to protect them during the operations at the 375-acre Holystone Wood, near Rothbury.

Such is the scale of the nests in Holystone that on a human measure the tallest would exceed the height of the Empire State Building in New York.

The conical structures – some up to 7ft tall and made of millions of conifer needles – have grown taller over the years on the Forestry Commission Holystone estate. Now they will stay intact as the next phase in the project to restore part of the site to its ancient roots as an oak wood proceeds.

Holystone is one of the most important ancient woods in Northumberland and is also a site of special scientific interest.

Jonathan Farries, from the Forestry Commission, said: “This long-term project will see many of the conifers planted in the 20th Century removed to allow native species like oak and birch to regenerate. But we are tweaking our plans to ensure that the wood ant nests continue to thrive.”

Over 10,000 tonnes of timber are due to be felled and rangers have identified the ant nests in the areas affected by the work.

The co-ordinates of each nest have been recorded using GPS devices and then plotted on to a computerised mapping system. This will allow foresters to take them into account when planning forest operations.