About England’s Community Forests
England’s Community Forests are located in and around our largest towns and cities.
Collectively, the work of the Forests has formed the largest environmental regeneration initiative in England.
For nearly thirty years we have delivered urban, economic and social regeneration, championing green infrastructure and creating high-quality environments for millions of people.
By planting trees and bringing woodlands back into use for both people and wildlife we continue to provide new opportunities for leisure, recreation, and cultural activities, enhancing biodiversity, helping us become more resilient to climate change and improving education and healthy lives.
The locations and details of England’s Community Forests
The Forest of Marston Vale
Covers - Bedfordshire
The Forest of Marston Vale is a forest in the making, covering an area of 61 square miles between Bedford and Milton Keynes. For over 20 years the Forest of Marston Vale Trust has been planting trees and engaging communities and the public and private sector in an ambitious vision to deliver landscape scale change and create accessible new woodlands and green spaces. From a base of just 3.6% in 1995, the charity has grown tree cover in the region to over 15% today, bringing with it extensive environmental, biodiversity, and quality of life benefits.
Creating the Forest hasn’t only been about transforming the landscape, it’s also boosted the local economy, growing a new sense of place in communities and helping set the scene for future growth and prosperity.
In 2019 the Forest of Marston Vale became only the fourth forest in the UK to be accredited to The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy.
For more information visit the Forest of Marston Vale website
Twitter: @forest_centre
Instagram: @forest_centre
Facebook: @forestofmarstonvale
The Great Western Community Forest
Covers - over 168 square miles stretching from the North Wessex Downs to the River Thames
Now in its 26th year, The Great Western Community Forest (GWCF) is one of England's Community Forests where local people and organisations are working together to create a better environment.
With the town of Swindon at its heart, GWCF covers an area of 39,000 hectares stretching from the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the River Thames.
The project is an exciting partnership between a wide range of local and regional organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors which work together to deliver a comprehensive package of environmental, economic and social regeneration.
Having more than doubled woodland and tree cover in the project area, GWCF continues to plays a crucial role in contributing to sustainable growth and regeneration in Swindon, the urban fringes and in the varied and beautiful surrounding countryside.
For more information visit the Great Western Community Forest website
The Greenwood Community Forest
Covers - 161 square miles of west Nottinghamshire
By working with a range of organisations and volunteer groups within the Greenwood area and more widely in Nottinghamshire, Greenwood Community Forest seeks to support and facilitate new tree and woodland establishment, the management of local green spaces, and to champion all the benefits for people, the environment, and the local economy that flow from this, including health and wellbeing, learning and training, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The core Greenwood Community Forest area covers 161 square miles of west Nottinghamshire, from Mansfield in the north to Nottingham in the south and from Eastwood in the west to Farnsfield in the east. It overlaps historic Sherwood Forest in the north-east and curves round to Attenborough in the south-west. Over 1 million people live within 5 miles of Greenwood Community Forest.
For more information visit the Greenwood Community Forest website
Twitter: @greenwoodcf
Facebook: @FOGCF
The Mersey Forest
Covers - Merseyside and North Cheshire
The Mersey Forest is a growing network of woodlands and green spaces spread across Cheshire and Merseyside, which has been creating 'woodlands on your doorstep' for more than 25 years.
The Forest is one of the leading environmental regeneration initiatives in the North West. Through community and partnership working, we have planted over 9 million trees.
The Forest helps our towns and cities adapt to climate change, creates woodlands that 20% of local people visit at least once a week, and by improving the image of our towns and cities sets the scene for growth within the region's £98 billion economy.
For more information visit the Mersey Forest website
Twitter: @merseyforest
Facebook: @merseyforest
City of Trees
Covers - Greater Manchester
City of Trees an innovative and exciting movement that aims to transform the landscape and quality of life for people across Greater Manchester. City of Trees works with the public, private and third sector to ensure that the benefits of trees and woodlands are realised through key agendas such as climate change, water and flood management and health and wellbeing.
City of Trees runs Citizen Forester, the practical way for people play their part in planting and looking after trees, engaging a wide range of audiences, examples of which include local residents, corporate groups, people looking to get back to work, and people affected by dementia.
City of Trees covers the Greater Manchester part of the Northern Forest.
For more information visit the City of Trees website
Twitter: @CityofTreesMcr
Instagram: @cityoftreesmcr
Facebook: @cityoftreesmcr
Forest of Avon Trust
Covers - Bristol and Avon
The Forest of Avon Trust was established in 2008 as an independent charity to help create the Forest of Avon Community Forest. Funded by donations, grants, sponsorship and fee income, the charity works with partners across Bristol and Avon to engage and involve people in their local woodlands, improve the management of existing woodlands and get many more trees planted. It has trained over 200 Forest School Leaders, developed Woodland Wellbeing programmes for hundred of people with learning disabilities, dementia or mental health needs and brought over 850 ha of woodlands in to management.
The charity works closely with local authority and other partners to get many more trees and woodlands planted across Bristol and Avon.
For more information visit the Forest of Avon Trust website
Twitter: @forestofavon
Instagram: @forestofavon
Facebook: @forestofavontrust
Forest of Mercia
Covers - Staffordshire and the West Midlands.
Forest of Mercia is a Community Interest Company. We use the natural environment to educate, improve health and wellbeing and encourage everyone to use the outdoors in a way thats right for them.
Forest of Mercia CIC is part of the Community Forest Partnership and has a long track record of delivering successful environmental projects in Staffordshire and the West Midlands. We have worked in the Forest of Mercia area for 30 years with interested individuals and groups developing the environment.
For more information visit the Forest of Mercia website
Twitter: @forestofmercia
Instagram: @forestofmercia
Facebook: @ForestofMercia
Humber Forest
Covers - Kingston upon Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Humber Forest delivers a strategy for trees & woodland in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. The strategic vision of Humber Forest is to improve significantly the urban, rural and industrial landscapes of Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire through the creation of a functional green infrastructure based on trees and woodland. The project partners include Government agencies, private companies, environmental charities, community organisations, and both local authorities.
For more information visit the Humber Forest website
Thames Chase Community Forest
Covers - 40 square miles in Brentwood, Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Thurrock and Essex
The Thames Chase Community Forest is a remarkable landscape initiative, actively transforming 40 square miles of the landscape in East London and South West Essex, guided by the Thames Chase Plan. Launched in 1990, the Thames Chase Community Forest now celebrates 30 years of landscape regeneration, transforming the green environment for the 650,000 population living through and around its boundaries.
Since 1990 Thames Chase Community Forest has sought to protect, improve and expand the woodland character of the Community Forest and to sustain the natural integrity of the air, land and water, including wildlife. Thames Chase Community Forest has a connected network of links and accessible, vibrant greenspaces and our work integrates climate change adaptation and mitigation into the developing Community Forest. Combined, this resource provides the opportunity to improve the local health and wellbeing of thousands of people through recreation, volunteering, learning and employment. The Community Forest is a partnership and the Thames Chase Trust is the umbrella body that meshes everything together, working from national to local level to maximise the impact of available resources.
The vision for Thames Chase Community Forest is simple:
‘By 2030, Thames Chase Community Forest will be recognised as an inspirational example of landscape regeneration where enhanced, connected woodland and green space has made a clear difference to wildlife and people’s lives’.
For more information visit the Thames Chase Community Forest website
Twitter: @Thames_Chase
Instagram: @thameschase
Facebook: @ThamesChase1
The White Rose Forest
Covers - Leeds City Region and North and West Yorkshire
The White Rose Forest is the community forest for North and West Yorkshire, working in partnership with local authorities, landowners, businesses and communities to increase tree cover across the region and improve our natural environment.
We are planting millions of trees in our urban centres and countryside that will help manage flood risk, combat climate change, create jobs and provide happier and healthier places for us all to live, work in and enjoy.
The White Rose Forest is one of four community forests in the north of England working together to create the Northern Forest.
For more information visit the White Rose Forest website
Twitter: @whiteroseforest
Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest
Covers - Plymouth and South Devon
The Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest will stretch from the heart of the city to the edge of the moor, encompassing 1,900 hectares of land to form a mosaic of different forest habitats.
For more information visit the Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest website
North East Community Forest
Covers - Newcastle, Gateshead, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland and Durham
The initiative aims to plant up to 500 hectares of trees by 2025, with a long-term goal to increase canopy cover across the north east to 30% by 2050 – almost double the current national average.
For more information visit the North East Community Forest website
Cumbria Coastal Community Forest
Covers - Copeland, Barrow and Allerdale
Up to 150 hectares (or around 210 football pitches) of trees, woodlands and forests will be planted, with the equivalent of one tree planted for every resident in Copeland, Barrow and Allerdale over the next five years. Ultimately, the aim is to create a minimum of 5,000 hectares of new woodland along a 56 mile stretch of the western coast of Cumbria over the next 25 years – that’s the size of almost 7,000 football pitches.
For more information visit the Cumbria Woodlands website
Twitter: @CumbriaWoodland
Instagram: @cumbriawoodlands
Facebook: @cumbriawoodlands
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