Restoring ancient woodland
Ancient woodland restoration encourages these precious habitats to recover and reverse years of decline. Find out why it's important and what's involved.
We restore
We bring damaged ancient woods back to life, restoring irreplaceable ecosystems to improve landscape resilience so that nature and people can thrive.
2.5%
That's how low ancient woodland cover in the UK is.
These woods have developed over hundreds of years and rare wildlife relies on them. We work to sensitively restore what is left.
40%
That's the percentage of ancient woodlands planted with non-native trees.
We gradually remove non-native trees to restore ancient woods to thriving habitats.
38k
That's how many hectares of ancient woodland are currently under restoration.
We're working with landowners to help them restore ancient woodland on their land.
Our work to restore ancient woods
We work with landowners around the UK to slowly and sensitively restore ancient woods that have been damaged over the last century.
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Protecting trees and woods
How we restore ancient woodland
Discover how we restore and maximise the ecological integrity and resilience of these incredibly special places.
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Trees woods and wildlife
Ancient woodland
Home to myth and legend, where folk tales began. It fuelled our ancestors and still houses thousands of species. Ancient woodland has grown and adapted with native wildlife, yet what remains only covers 2.5% of the UK.
Promoting best practice
We lead on understanding and tracking the ecological condition of native woods and trees and use evidence and expertise to develop guidance and training on restoration best practice.
State of the UK's Woods and Trees 2025
Four years after the groundbreaking State of the UK's Woods and Trees report, the Woodland Trust is once again assessing the health of the UK's woods and trees – revealing the latest evidence and analysis to support the urgent action needed to protect and restore woodlands.
