UK woodland facts

These facts relate to woodland in the UK.

• The UK is one of the least wooded places in Europe. Only 12 per cent of the UK is woodland, compared to an average of 44 per cent in other parts of Europe.
  
  
• We have around 50 species of native trees and shrubs, including three conifers, in the UK
  
  
• In the last 100 years, 46 broadleaved woodland species have become extinct in the UK
  
  
• In 1980, native species accounted for only five per cent of trees planted in the UK. Thanks, in part, to the efforts of conservation organisations like the Woodland Trust, by 2000, this figure had risen to over 40 per cent.

Woodland facts - Northern Ireland

• Northern Ireland ranks as one of the least wooded regions in Europe
  
  
• The country has a mere 6.4 per cent woodland cover, compared to the European average of 44 per cent
  
  
• Furthermore, most of this cover is coniferous, meaning that our native, broadleaved woodland occupies only 1.2 per cent of the Northern Ireland landscape.

Woodland facts - Scotland

• Scotland is the most wooded country in Britain with woodland covering 17% of land area
  
  
• Woodland of ancient natural origin now only covers 1% of the land area
  
  
• About 36% of Scotland's woods are publicly owned
  
  
• Woods and trees are an important part of the Scottish landscape
  

Woodland facts - Wales

• Less than 14% of the Wales is woodland
  
  
• Of this, only about 37% is broadleaved
  
  
• Ancient woodland, more than a few hundred years old, covers just 3% of the Wales
  
  
• Since 1 January 2008 a native tree is being planted for every child born or adopted in Wales, in a scheme set up on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government by Coed Cadw (Woodland Trust) and Forestry Commission Wales.