West of England Woodland Opportunity Study

Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan (YEP) recognises the importance of ecosystem services provided by trees and reiterates the Government’s support for Community Forests, including the Forest of Avon, and working strategically and in partnership to increase tree canopy cover

The Environment Act 2021 seeks to improve legal protection for existing trees and woodland. It requires local authorities to develop Local Nature Recovery Strategies and facilitates funding for trees and woodland across England. This includes both public and privately funded tree planting initiatives in order to meet the government’s overall target to treble current woodland creation rates.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) revised in 2021 and updated in 2023, recognises the importance of trees (trees contribute towards 11 of the 13 objectives of the NPPF) and requires that planning authorities produce plans to enhance the natural and local environment.

The England Trees Action Plan 2021–2024 (ETAP) published May 2021 sets out policy priorities for trees, woodland and forestry, providing a strategic framework for implementing the Nature for Climate Fund, and outlines actions to meet long-term visions for trees, woodland and forestry in England until 2050. The ETAP was informed by a consultation on the England Tree Strategy (2020-2021). An analysis of consultation responses published in May 2021 highlighted that local authorities play an important role in delivering many aspects of new woodland creation. Specific mention is made of the role of new local-level tree strategies in helping create new woodland in the most effective way.

The Agriculture Act 2020 introduces the concept of ‘payment for public goods’, meaning that agricultural subsidies should be directed towards public goods (such as tree planting) that are not rewarded through ‘traditional’ agricultural markets.

The West of England Nature Partnership (WENP) is a cross-sector Local Nature Partnership for the West of England, working to develop a regional Nature Recovery Network (NRN) for the region, in accordance with Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan. The proposed nature recovery network identifies existing ecological networks and potential opportunities for enhancement, including doubling semi-natural broadleaved woodland cover by 2050 (from 6% to 12%) in the West of England, and increasing habitat connectivity across the region through planting 600 hectares of new native woodland (and 700 hectares of new species-rich grassland) by 2050.

The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) was published in November 2024 and forms the statutory document to guide biodiversity protection, restoration and enhancement within the West of England region. The LNRS is based on the original WENP ecological network mapping described above. It sets local priorities for nature recovery and maps ‘focus areas’ to advise on nature recovery actions that will be most effective in a given area.

The West of England Joint Green Infrastructure Strategy (JGIS)  aims to provide a consistent approach to Green Infrastructure (GI) for the four authorities within the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), helping to balance the need to address the declared climate and ecological emergencies. The JGIS set out an ambition to double semi-natural woodland cover in rural areas by 2060.

The Forest of Avon Plan: A Tree and Woodland Strategy for the West of England responds to this regional aspiration and sets out a five-year action plan for each landscape character area within the region which will help to inform strategies at local authority level.

The Forest of Avon Community Forest, part of the national programme of England’s Community Forests covers the West of England region (excluding The Cotswolds and The Mendip Hills National Landscapes. The Forest of Avon Plan (2021) acts as a mechanism for co-ordination, delivery and national funding. The Defra 25 Year Environment Plan states Defra’s ongoing support for England’s Community Forests.

In response to the Colchester Declaration, the two National Landscapes that fall partially within the West of England – the Cotswolds National Landscape and Mendip Hills National Landscape – have produced Nature Recovery Plans, which will set out a strategy and actions to enhance habitat connectivity and restore nature in each of the National Landscapes.

The Cotswolds National Landscape Nature Recovery Plan (2021) was adopted in April 2021. Relevant aims include: “create 4,000 Ha of broadleaved woodland by extending and linking existing woods” and “create 10,000 Ha of mixed grassland, scrub and tree mosaic habitats include large extensively grazed areas”. It also includes practical guidance for woodland and tree planting and management for nature restoration.

The Cotswolds National Landscape Management Plan (2023-2025) Policy CE8: Rural Land Management states that “woodland planting should consider its impact on the landscape setting and, in particular, its effects on the open views that people enjoy from viewpoints, roads and Public Rights of Way. ‘Right Tree, Right Place, Right Reason’ principles should be applied when planting trees.” And that “the creation of new woodland should occur where it best meets the objectives of the Nature Recovery Network and it should be appropriately managed”, seeking opportunities for natural regeneration in conjunction with new tree and woodland planting.

The South Gloucestershire Green Infrastructure Strategy (2021) draws on the WECA Joint Green Infrastructure Strategy (JGIS) (2020) and outlines strategic policy areas for woodland, including a target of doubling of tree canopy cover across South Gloucestershire by 2030, as well as several local-scale initiatives.

As part of the incoming new South Gloucestershire Local Plan (Core Strategy Policy CS2: Green Infrastructure), nine Strategic Green Infrastructure corridors have been identified to spatially define the GI network in South Gloucestershire.

The strategic GI network mapping will be shown on the new Local Plan Policies Map and will provide the overarching framework for the council’s emerging Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), as well as supporting other local and regional environmental objectives, including opportunities for new woodland creation. The results of this woodland opportunity mapping project will support the GI corridor mapping by identifying suitable areas for new woodland planting.