Fox hunting in Woodland Trust woods

We do not grant access permission to hunts to use or cross our land, or formal permission to access our land to retrieve hounds.

Since the introduction of the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 and Hunting Act 2004, it has been illegal to hunt any mammals, including foxes, with packs of hounds in England, Wales and Scotland.

Northern Ireland has no law against this activity. However, the Woodland Trust is against all forms of recreational hunting and we do not allow recreational hunting on any Woodland Trust land, including sites in Northern Ireland.

While traditional hunts with hounds still operate by laying and following scented trails, we do not grant permission for hunts to use or cross our land. In addition, we do not grant permission to access our land to retrieve hounds.

Hunts are only legally able to access or cross our land if they are on a public footpath, bridleway or road. Where we have public bridleways or other public highways running through our sites, we have no legal recourse to prevent their use or access by mounted hunts. However, we do not allow the carrying of guns, or the use of vehicles outside of public highways on our land without our formal written permission, and this is never given for sport hunting.

In Scotland, trail hunting has been illegal since the introduction of the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023, which replaced the 2002 Act. The 2023 Act also introduced new limits on the number of dogs that can be used when hunting. While everyone in Scotland has a legal right to access our land on foot or horseback, providing they comply with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, hunting is not included under this code and we do not allow hunts access to our land in Scotland.

Reporting incidents

We do not allow illegal activity on our land and we take any reports of this activity very seriously. If you believe illegal activity is taking place on Woodland Trust land, please report it to the police.

We will continue to work with our partners in the police to ensure incidents on our land are appropriately investigated. We are not able to comment on the outcome of any reported incidents.