Trees for Climate's story
The Greenwood Community Forest covers 417 square kilometres 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.
The Community Forest was established in 1991, with the first tree planted at Dob Park, Hucknall. Since then, over 1300 hectares of new woodland have been created, equivalent to around 2 million trees. Like all Community Forests, the overall target is to achieve 30% woodland cover within the Greenwood Community Forest area. Hosted by Nottinghamshire County Council, the initiative seeks to facilitate new tree and woodland establishment and other positive landscape changes, taking into account the needs of communities, biodiversity, landscape character and adaptation to climate change.
Recently, Greenwood Community Forest has come together with eleven other Community Forests in England to deliver a significant programme of woodland creation led by England's Community Forests, supported by DEFRA and the Forestry Commission as well as the Community Forest Trust. The first two years of the project are being funded by DEFRA's Nature for Climate Fund.
The new woodlands created as part of Trees for Climate will store large quantities of carbon (around 2 million tonnes in total) playing an important role in our national mission of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The woods will also deliver natural flood management systems, improve air quality and create a more advantageous setting for economic recovery and growth. More communities will get access to nature, proven to boost health and wellbeing and giving children and adults living in urban areas a chance to explore the natural environment, and wildlife habitats will be more robust and better linked.
Overall, Trees for Climate will see a total of 6030 hectares (14,900 acres) of new woodland created across the twelve Community Forests, and Greenwood Community Forest has committed to creating 250 hectares in Nottinghamshire during the five-year programme period. In Year 1 of Trees for Climate, the programme delivered 446ha of new woodland, with Greenwood Community Forest Initiative successfully establishing 4.9ha of new woodland at Bentinck South pit tip, a site managed by Nottinghamshire County Council. In Year 2, Greenwood Community Forest is aiming to establish around 60ha of new woodland.
A wide range of public, private and voluntary organisations, as well as local communities, will be involved in the Trees for Climate programme as it continues to develop, and work is underway to develop woodland creation schemes on land owned by a range of public and voluntary organisations, and a landowner grant scheme is under development.
Useful learnings from Trees for Climate
Planning for woodland creation is not a quick process - it requires suitable land being available, surveys to determine constraints, engagement and consultation with local people and other stakeholders, detailed design, regulatory approval, availability of tree stock and planting contractors, and post-planting maintenance.
However, there are now a lot of different woodland creation schemes available, and advice can be sought from a range of sources. Greenwood Community Forest would be delighted to talk to anyone considering creating woodland in Nottinghamshire, not least to see if it is something we can support financially.
Trees for Climate's metrics
Area of new woodland created (hectares).
Number of trees planted.
Amount of carbon sequestered.
Number of people engaged.
