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Woodland Trust launches appeal to expand Snaizeholme in North Yorkshire 

Gabriel Goonesena

PR Assistant Apprentice

The Woodland Trust has launched a national appeal to raise £4.86 million to secure and manage additional land in the Snaizeholme valley, near Hawes. This would build upon 290 hectares (roughly the size of 406 football pitches) of native planting and major work to restore habitats and protect rare wildlife, including red squirrels.

Site manager, Alec Pue, said: 

“This next phase gives us a fantastic opportunity to scale up the work already achieved at Snaizeholme. By bringing this land together, we can create a more connected, resilient landscape where native woodland, open habitats and wildlife can recover side by side”.

The appeal would enable the Trust to secure a further 141 hectares of neighbouring land, including two large blocks of commercial conifer plantation and a wedge of hillside between land it already owns. If successful, the acquisition would expand Snaizeholme to more than 700 hectares, making it the Trust’s largest site in England.

Purchasing the land and restoring it would cost the Trust £4.86 million. The land has been bought on our behalf by a sympathetic organisation and the Trust has two years to raise the money needed to bring it under their care. If they fail, it will be put back on the open market. 

The appeal would enable the Trust to secure a further 141 hectares of neighbouring land in the valley.

Credit: Phil Formby / WTML

Since 2023, the Trust has been restoring the valley’s habitats through large-scale tree planting, covering almost 300 hectares of habitat across the valley. The site also includes 109 hectares of upland peat bog, where restoration work has recently been completed, supporting carbon storage and improving conditions for wildlife. 

Dr. Darren Moorcroft, Chief Executive of the Woodland Trust said: “It’s no exaggeration that Snaizeholme will be a model for the whole of the English uplands, demonstrating excellence in woodland creation alongside the restoration of other habitats for nature recovery”.

Tree planting at Snaizeholme has been supported by the White Rose Forest, the Community Forest for North and West Yorkshire, contributing to efforts to help reduce the impact of flooding in key Yorkshire catchments and improve biodiversity for people and wildlife. The White Rose Forest provided funding for trees, major site infrastructure, planting and maintenance through their Trees for Climate programme, funded by the UK Government.

The Trust has been restoring the valley's vital habitats, including upland peat bog.

Credit: WTML / Paul Barker

The Trust is inviting people across the UK to support this rare opportunity to help secure the future of this recovering landscape. Find out more about the appeal and make a donation on the Woodland Trust website. 

Note to editors

For enquiries, please email media@woodlandtrust.org.uk or call 033 033 35313.

For more information about the White Rose Forest visit their website. The Northern Forest is a partnership between The Woodland Trust, the Community Forest Trust and four of the Community Forests in the north of England – The Mersey Forest, City of Trees (Greater Manchester), the White Rose Forest and Humber Forest. Funding for tree planting across the Northern Forest is available through the UK Government’s Trees for Climate programme.

The Northern Forest aims to establish at least 50 million new trees by 2043, that will help transform the landscape from Liverpool to the Yorkshire Coast.

For more information about funding offers or the Northern Forest, visit the Northern Forest website.

About the Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity with a vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature. We have more than 500,000 members and supporters and care for more than 1,000 woods – all free for everyone to visit.

We’ve been fighting for the health of people and planet with every tree since 1972, but today our mission is more urgent than ever.

We focus on three key aims:

  1. protecting the UK’s remaining rare, unique and irreplaceable ancient woodland
  2. restoring damaged ancient woods, helping bring precious pieces of our natural history back to life
  3. creating new native woods and planting more trees to build healthy, resilient landscapes for people and wildlife.

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