THE mighty oak is the most abundant broadleaf tree in Yorkshire and the North-East.

In the two regions, the area of broadleaved woodland has increased by 30pc and 51pc respectively since 1980.

The figures were contained in the regional edition of the National Inventory of Woodland and Trees, published by the Forestry Commission on Monday.

The study revealed that the percentage of land covered by woodland in the North-East had risen from 11pc to 12pc since 1980, compared with a national average of 8.4pc. Only the leafy South-East has more.

Tree cover in County Durham has risen by 12pc and now represents 6.4pc of land area. In woods of more than five acres, broadleaves have expanded by 36pc to 19,400 acres, while the 17,200 acres of conifer has remained largely unchanged. The county's predominant broad-leaf tree is oak - up 96pc to 4,500 acres - while the sitka spruce and scots pine are the most abundant conifers.

Stuart Maidment, regional operations manager for the Forestry Commission, said that, at the turn of the century, England had less than 5pc tree cover and Durham and the North-East had less than that.

The turn-around was originally largely through the huge conifer woods, mainly planted by the Forestry Commission. However, much of that had now reached maturity and, over the past 20 years, broadleaf planting had increased, driven by generous Government grants and greater awareness of the environment.

"But much still needs to be done," said Mr Maidment, speaking at the 115-acre Hedley Hall Wood, near Stanley, which has been planted by the Woodland Trust with grant aid from the Forestry Commission.

He predicted that the pace of native and mixed species planting would accelerate still further, with available farmland and brown field sites within or close to urban areas being of particular interest.

"This will produce major benefits for wildlife and increase opportunities for public recreation," he said.

Across the North-East as a whole, broadleaf cover has risen to 61,000 acres - the highest level for centuries. In woods larger than five acres the predominant tree is sitka spruce (105,000 acres and up 20pc) but overall conifer cover has decreased by 6pc.

Oak is the most abundant broadleaf, up 109pc and covering 12,300 acres. Ash and birch have expanded by 183pc and 45pc respectively. The elm population has collapsed by 86pc because of Dutch elm disease.

The region's woods are now 64.5pc conifer and 21.1pc broadleaf, with the rest mixed woodland and open spaces.

Breaking down the statistics (1980 figures in brackets) shows that Tyne and Wear is 5.4pc wooded (3.1pc), Cleveland 6.4pc (5.8pc) and Northumberland 16pc (15.1pc).

Half of all woodlands over five acres are owned by or leased to the Forestry Commission.

In North Yorkshire, the total area of woodland is 60,843 hectares or 7.3pc of the land area. Broadleaved woodland is the most dominant at 41.2pc, with conifer woodland at 32.3pc.

Oak is the main broadleaf, covering 5,237ha (about 13,000 acres) or 21.1pc of all broadleaved species, while pine is the dominant conifer covering 10,565ha (about 26,412 acres) or 37.3pc of all conifer species.

The area of broadleaves increased by 30pc between 1980 and 1999, with the proportion of broadleaves to conifers increasing from 39pc to 47pc.

Farmers or landowners intersted in planting woodlands should contact their local Forestry Commission office.

The inventory was collected by producing digital maps from aerial photographs, plus with information from field surveys.

l National, regional and county reports are available on the Forestry Commission website, www.forestry.gov.uk. Hard copies of the national and regional reports, at £15, can be had from Forestry Commission Publications, PO Box 25, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, LS23 7EW