Humans have had a relationship with woods ever since the time of Neolithic man around 4000BC. This is when the first forests were first cleared for agriculture and later other woodland areas were harvested for wood through coppicing and pollarding or used as wood pasture to graze livestock, and sometimes as shelter.
Today, woods still provide people with places for quiet reflection and relaxation and help improve the health of our body and minds. They also still have economic benefits in the form of tourism and timber products.
Despite the decline in woodland cover, the Woodland Trust is dedicated to ensuring more woodland is more accessible to more people. We actively encourage people to go to our woods, which are free to visit and we also have a range of projects to help people get involved with trees and woods, including Tree For all, the Ancient Tree Hunt, Nature Detectives, Nature’s Calendar and WoodWatch.