Forestry England is a division of the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

, responsible for managing and promoting publicly owned forests in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Forest Enterprise, the precursor to Forestry England, was originally formed as a Great Britain-wide organization in 1996. With the advent of devolution to Scotland and Wales, Forest Enterprise was on 1 April 2003 split into Forest Enterprise England, Forest Enterprise Scotland, and Forest Enterprise Wales. Forest Enterprise England was subsequently rebranded to Forestry England on 1 April 2019. Its mission is to connect everyone with the nation’s forests by creating and caring for England's forests for people to enjoy, wildlife to flourish and businesses to grow. It operates under the Forestry Act(s) and subsequent legislation and is part of the Civil Service and an

Executive Agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or No ...

of the

Operation

Forestry England is headquartered in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, and for organisational purposes it divides England into six forest regions each with their own regional office: *North England, based in

Bellingham, Northumberland Bellingham ( ) is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, to the north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne and is situated on the Hareshaw Burn at its confluence with the River North Tyne. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1334. Features F ...

near

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

. *Yorkshire, based in

Pickering, North Yorkshire Pickering is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is at ...

. *Central England, based in

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. *West England, based in

Coleford, Gloucestershire Coleford is a market town in the west of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, east of the Welsh border and close to the Wye Valley. It is the administrative centre of the Forest of Dean district. The combined population of the town's ...

. *East England, based in Santon Downham, Suffolk. *South England, based in

Lyndhurst, Hampshire Lyndhurst is a large village and civil parish situated in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England, about nine miles () south-west of Southampton. Known as the "Capital of the New Forest", Lyndhurst houses the New Forest District, Ne ...

. It also manages Westonbirt Arboretum in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, perhaps the most important and widely known

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

in the United Kingdom. and Bedgebury National Pinetum, a living collection of

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

s, in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, which is said to be the largest collection of conifers in the world.

The nation’s forests

List of forests managed by the Forestry Commission Prior to 2013 the Forestry Commission managed about one million hectares of land across Great Britain, including 660,000 hectares of forest in Scotland, 250,000 hectares in England and 126,000 hectares in Wales. In 2013 the Commission's forests in ...

Forestry England manages 1,500 woodland and forest areas covering around spread from Northumberland to Cornwall, Shropshire to Norfolk, making them England’s largest land manager. Around half of England’s softwood production arises from the estate and supports hundreds of small businesses and several large sawmills that rely on a guaranteed supply of timber to attract capital investment. Over 230 million people visit the public forest estate each year which supports over 70 substantial business partners on the estate, delivering most of the Forest Centre services, bike hire and other outdoor activities. Alongside all the economic and recreational activity, some 45% of the estate contributes to England’s most precious National Park landscapes and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Additionally, are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest in recognition of their value for nature, virtually all of which is in sound or recovering ecological condition and accessible to the public.

References

External links

* {{Defra (United Kingdom) Organisations based in Bristol Environmental organisations based in England Forestry in the United Kingdom Forestry agencies in the United Kingdom British landowners Executive agencies of the United Kingdom government

Operation

The nation’s forests

See also

References

External links