The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, dedicated to protecting, restoring, and creating native woodland to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. With a vision of a UK rich in native woods and trees for people and wildlife, the Trust manages over 1,000 sites covering more than 30,000 hectares.
Their work is structured around three core pillars:
Protect: The Trust defends ancient woodlands and veteran trees from development and destruction. They map, monitor, and campaign to protect these irreplaceable habitats, fighting hundreds of planning battles annually.
Restore: They work to bring damaged ancient woods back to life by restoring them to their former native state, increasing ecological condition, and improving landscape resilience. This includes clearing non-native conifers from ancient sites.
Create: The Trust plants millions of trees annually, focusing on expanding native woodland, connecting fragmented habitats, and restoring degraded landscapes. They also support community tree-planting projects and agroforestry to boost biodiversity.
Key Aspects of Their Work:
Ancient Tree Inventory: They run a comprehensive, public-facing database that records ancient, veteran, and notable trees across the UK.
Community Engagement: Through initiatives like the Green Tree Schools Award, they educate young people about nature. They also facilitate free tree packs for schools and community groups.
Climate Action: The Trust uses natural solutions to the climate crisis, focusing on increasing carbon sequestration and improving air quality through urban tree planting.
Volunteering: Over 500,000 members and supporters enable their work, which includes managing over 110 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
Advocacy & Research: They produce the "State of the UK's Woods and Trees" report, which provides evidence to influence government policy on forestry, land use, and nature conservation.
In the 2024–25 period, the Trust focused heavily on restoring UK rainforests, reintroducing species like pine martens, and pioneering plastic-free tree protection.