Protecting ancient woodland, ancient trees and veteran trees

Last updated: 2 July 2025

In Scotland, ancient woodlands are defined as any area that has been wooded continuously since at least 1750 AD (1600 AD in the rest of the UK). According to the Woodland Trust, they comprise just 2.5% of the UK’s land area. As well as containing ancient and veteran native trees, these habitats also include specialist plant and fungal communities which have remained relatively undisturbed over long periods of time. In turn, they support important invertebrate, bird and mammal species.  

Because ancient woodland habitats, and individual ancient and veteran trees, have developed over such long time periods (often many hundreds and sometimes more than a thousand years), these habitats and features are considered irreplaceable. 

Ancient trees are defined by their age. They have passed maturity and are incredibly old in comparison to other trees of the same species. As different trees age at different rates, there is no set age for a tree to be classed as ancient. Ancient trees can be identified by some common characteristics.  

A veteran tree is not as old as an ancient tree but has some similar features which will develop further over time. Veteran trees can be thought of as the ancient trees of the future. 

You can use the following resources to identify ancient woodland, ancient trees and veteran trees. 
 

• The Scottish Ancient Woodland Inventory  

• The Woodland Trust’s ancient tree inventory (click on ‘Tree search’ and enter a postcode) – only a small proportion of ancient or veteran trees are recorded on this inventory 

Ancient woodlands that are smaller than two hectares may not appear on these inventories. It’s therefore worth checking with your local record centre in case they hold data on smaller ancient woodlands.  

It’s important to note that not all ancient woodland will be recorded on these inventories, so if a site contains evidence of ancient woodland but it is not on the inventory you should contact NatureScot. 

Development proposals can pose a serious threat to ancient woodland, ancient and veteran trees, and the wildlife that they support. Effects of development can be both direct and indirect.  

Policy 6(b) of the National Planning Framework (page 44) states that ‘development proposals will not be supported where they will result in (i) any loss of ancient woodlands, ancient and veteran trees, or adverse impact on their ecological condition...’ 

Part (c) of Policy 6 states that ‘development proposals involving woodland removal will only be supported where they will achieve significant and clearly defined additional public benefits in accordance with relevant Scottish Government policy on woodland removal. Where woodland is removed, compensatory planting will most likely be expected to be delivered.’ 

Development affecting ancient woodland would therefore need to demonstrate that the public benefit of the proposal (e.g. a major infrastructure project) would outweigh the loss or deterioration of the habitat.  

The starting point for any development proposal should be to identify ways to avoid harmful impacts to ancient woodland or ancient and veteran trees, such as looking for alternative sites or redesigning the scheme. The next step is then mitigation of any impacts that can’t be avoided, and as a last resort compensation should be used to offset any unavoidable remaining impacts. 

This ‘avoid, mitigate, compensate’ approach is known as the mitigation hierarchy. 

If a planning authority decides to grant planning permission that results in unavoidable loss or deterioration of habitat (where exceptional reasons are demonstrated), they should apply the mitigation hierarchy to avoid significant harm to biodiversity.  

NatureScot – A guide to understanding the Scottish Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI) 

Woodland Trust’s guidance on ancient woodland 

Woodland Trust’s guidance on ancient trees