Coppicing /ˈkɒpɪsɪŋ/ is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a stump, which in many species encourages new shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest or grove that has been subject to coppicing is called a copse /kɒps/ or coppice, in which young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. The resulting living stumps are called stools. New growth emerges, and after a number of years, the coppiced trees are harvested, and the cycle begins anew. Pollarding is a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree in order to prevent grazing animals from eating new shoots. Daisugi (台杉, where sugi refers to Japanese cedar) is a similar Japanese technique.

Many silviculture practices involve cutting and regrowth; coppicing has been of significance in many parts of lowland temperate Europe.^{[citation needed]} The widespread and long-term practice of coppicing as a landscape-scale industry is something that remains of special importance in southern England. Many of the English language terms referred to in this article are particularly relevant to historic and contemporary practice in that area.

Typically a coppiced woodland is harvested in sections or coups (also spelled 'coupe' but pronounced 'coop' and descended from the French or Norman French 'couper', to cut or coupé 'has been cut') on a rotation. English terms for an area of coppice include 'cant', 'panel' and 'fall' which can be interchangeable and regionally-based.^{[citation needed]} In this way, a crop is available each year somewhere in the woodland. Coppicing has the effect of providing a rich variety of habitats, as the woodland always has a range of different-aged coppice growing in it, which is beneficial for biodiversity. The cycle length depends upon the species cut, the local custom, and the use of the product. Birch can be coppiced for faggots on a three- or four-year cycle, whereas oak can be coppiced over a fifty-year cycle for poles or firewood.

Trees being coppiced do not die of old age as coppicing maintains the tree at a juvenile stage, allowing them to reach immense ages. The age of a stool may be estimated from its diameter; some are so large—as much as 5.5 metres (18 ft) across—that they are thought to have been continually coppiced for centuries.

Evidence suggests that coppicing has been continuously practised since pre-history. Coppiced stems are characteristically curved at the base. This curve occurs as the competing stems grow out from the stool in the early stages of the cycle, then up towards the sky as the canopy closes.^{[citation needed]} The curve may allow the identification of coppice timber in archaeological sites. Timber in the Sweet Track in Somerset (built in the winter of 3807 and 3806 BCE) has been identified as coppiced Tilia species.

Originally, the silvicultural system now called coppicing was practised solely for small wood production.^{[citation needed]} In German this is called Niederwald, which translates as low forest. Later on in medieval times, farmers encouraged pigs to feed from acorns, and so some trees were allowed to grow bigger.^{[citation needed]} This different silvicultural system is called in English coppice with standards. In German this is called Mittelwald (middle forest). As modern forestry (Hochwald in German, which translates as high forest) seeks to harvest timber mechanically, and pigs are generally no longer fed from acorns, both systems have declined. However, there are cultural and wildlife benefits from these two silvicultural systems, so both can be found where timber production or some other main forestry purpose (such as a protection forest against an avalanche) is not the sole management objective of the woodland.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the technology of charcoal iron production became widely established in England, continuing in some areas until the late 19th century. Charcoal once fuelled all metalworking (with evidence dating back many thousands of years) and other high temperature industrial processes (see white coal) but scarcity led to the eventual adoption of coal as the primary fuel. Decline in charcoal as an industrial fuel accelerated after the discovery of coke (coal heated in limited oxygen) in the 18th century and leading to a crash in UK charcoal production in the century thereafter. Notably, scarcity of charcoal for industrial processes actually led to the survival of large areas of woodland in the weald of Kent and the Sussexes as large areas of coppiced woodland were jealously guarded by Roman ironmasters and later by Medieval ironmasters. Charcoal hearths in woodlands are indications of ancient status (in context).^{[citation needed]}

Along with the need for oak bark for tanning, charcoal required large amounts of coppiced wood. With this coppice management, wood could be provided for those growing industries in principle indefinitely. This was regulated by a statute of 1544 of Henry VIII, which required woods to be enclosed after cutting (to prevent browsing by animals) and 12 standels (standards or mature uncut trees) to be left in each acre, to be grown into timber. Coppice with standards (scattered individual stems allowed to grow on through several coppice cycles) has been commonly used throughout most of Europe^[when?] as a means of giving greater flexibility in the resulting forest product from any one area. The woodland provides the small material from the coppice as well as a range of larger timber for such uses as house building, bridge repair, cart-making and so on. But note that coppice produce was used in parallel with larger timber. For example, hazel and willow as woven wattle infill panels (daubed or plastered) in housebuilding and ash coppice to produce components for carts, and several species for components for bridge rails and fences.^{[citation needed]}