Launched in 2018, the Northern Forest is an ambitious programme of transformational change. The aim is to establish at least 50 million new trees over 25 years, bringing existing woodlands into better management across 10,000 square miles of land stretching from Liverpool to Hull. Since the programme started, over 10 million new trees have been established.

The area is home to almost 10 million people but it only has 7.6% woodland cover – much lower than the UK average of 13% and the European average of 30%. The vision of the Northern Forest is to tackle this, transforming a landscape with critically low tree cover to one that can deliver the economic, health, nature and climate benefits associated with trees to the areas of greatest need.

The Northern Forest is already providing benefits including:

• £43 million of economic uplift every year in some of the most deprived areas of the UK
• an additional 19,000 tonnes of carbon locked up each year - the equivalent to driving 70 million miles in a family car
• a publicly accessible woodland now less than a 10-minute walk away for over 300,000 more households
• more than 423,000 cubic metres of water stored in locations most likely to reduce flood risk, achieving a 33% improvement in flood mitigation in sites that have been planted
• an additional 3,500 hectares of better-connected habitat networks for wildlife, contributing to a total of 570,000 hectares of woodland.

Map of the Northern Forest, showing the four Community Forests found within it. The Woodland Trust works across all regions. Credit: WTML

Growing a better future

Increasing tree cover and protecting ancient woodland in the North will help our wildlife thrive, create better connected and extensive new woods and benefit communities for generations to come.

When we hit that 50 million milestone, the Northern Forest will have transformed into an even more beautiful and resilient region, enriching the lives of everyone who lives, works, explores, learns and plays there.

Who's delivering the Northern Forest?

Working together with many other partners, the Woodland Trust, the Community Forest Trust and four of the Community Forests in the north of England – The Mersey Forest, City of Trees (Greater Manchester), the White Rose Forest and Humber Forest – are bringing the Northern Forest to life.

Discover which organisations are active in your area of the Northern Forest, and explore the support and grants that are available to kickstart your tree planting and woodland establishment projects today.

The Northern Forest is also one of the seven 'investable propositions' that underpin Nature North, a collaborative initiative to invest in nature recovery and nature-based solutions across the North of England. Learn more about Nature North.