New figures show over 13 million trees planted in the Northern Forest
PR officer
Over 13 million trees have now taken root since 2018 as part of the Northern Forest, in an area that stretches from Liverpool to the Humber Estuary, according to recent analysis by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU).
The new data, published on 24 September 2026, reveals that more than 738,000 households in the North of England now have a Northern Forest wooded site within a 15-minute walk of their home. One third of these households are from low-income communities.
Planting has taken place in both urban and rural settings, including in and around Manchester, Leeds and York, as well as rural landscapes like the Peak District. The woodland habitats now cover an area equivalent to just over 9,200 football pitches, bringing green spaces to bustling town and city centres, creating valuable habitats for wildlife and giving more people access to woods and trees. The analysis was conducted by LJMU’s Natural Capital Hub, a leading research centre for understanding the environmental, economic and social benefits of woodlands, wetlands, grasslands and more.
Established in 2018, 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. The partnership is working to deliver a major programme of environmental and economic transformation by planting at least 50 million trees across the North of England over 25 years.
The partnership’s success is also supported by a wide range of national and local organisations, including local authorities, Rivers Trusts, the National Trust, Forestry England, water utility companies and the Forestry Commission. The Northern Forest has been made possible thanks to government support since its establishment, with funding through the second round of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Trees for Climate programme awarded earlier this year, and led by England’s Community Forests, continuing to support woodland creation within the Northern Forest going forward.
The benefits of the Northern Forest activity are already being felt by communities across the area. Trees play a vital role in supporting people, nature and the economy, helping to tackle climate change, reduce the impact of heatwaves, enhance health and wellbeing and drive economic growth across the region. The incredible scale of this positive impact can be seen in the figures to date.
The Northern Forest is generating £50 million of economic uplift every year through natural benefits such as flood mitigation, improved air quality and access to nature.
Trees that have been planted are estimated to provide two million cubic metres of additional flood water storage – roughly equal to 794 Olympic-sized swimming pools. This is reducing the risk of flooding to communities and businesses, and the economic cost it brings, through natural flood management.
Over 738,000 households now have access to at least one wooded site planted under the Northern Forest programme, including 227,000 households in some of the most deprived communities, now within a 15-minute walk of recently planted wooded habitat.
Total planting in the Northern Forest is projected to remove over 200 tonnes of harmful airborne pollutants every year.
40,000 tonnes of carbon are being locked up every year by the trees that have been planted, the equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of 29,300 cars.
The Northern Forest also promotes tree equity, which means it is reducing the disparity between people’s access to trees and woodlands in different parts of the country. When the Northern Forest programme began in 2018, the region had just 7.6% tree cover, in comparison to a UK average of 13%.
In addition, recent research done by the Woodland Trust reveals stark inequalities in access to the benefits urban trees provide, highlighting a significant north-south divide across the UK, with 15 of the UK’s 20 worst-performing towns and cities in the north. The Northern Forest programme is helping to transform a landscape with critically low tree cover to one that can deliver the economic, health, nature and climate benefits associated with trees to the areas of greatest need.
Nick Sellwood, Northern Forest programme director for the Woodland Trust, said:
"It is staggering to see what the Northern Forest has already achieved, establishing more than 13 million new trees across the North. The many benefits that are already being seen across the area thanks to the work of the Northern Forest partnership highlights the importance of support from regional decision-makers and of ongoing support given by central government. Continued support from both will be key to the project’s future success.
“The commitment shown by the many partners, funders, community groups, businesses, contractors, landowners and volunteers involved in the Northern Forest demonstrates the importance of this programme to people across the region. Trees planted in the Northern Forest are bringing woods to the doorsteps of local communities, improving their health and wellbeing and cleaning the air they breathe, while tackling climate change and helping save wildlife. These benefits are also being felt economically, with the Northern Forest already generating an annual economic uplift of £50 million for the area."
Jessica Thompson, director of City of Trees, speaking on behalf of England’s Community Forests network, said:
“England’s Community Forests network is proud to be a part of the Northern Forest, an initiative which supports our aim of unlocking the power of trees to drive tangible social, economic and environmental transformation in and around our towns and cities.
“Over the last planting season, the four brilliant Community Forests within the Northern Forest created over 850 hectares of new woodland for the benefit of local people, communities and businesses, helping ensure over 45,000 households now live near accessible woodland. Hitting 13 million trees planted across the Northern Forest is a real moment to celebrate – and we look forward to bringing the benefits of trees to even more people and places across the north in the coming years.”
Nature Minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter said:
“Thirteen million trees planted between Liverpool and the Humber Estuary is a significant achievement by the Northern Forest, and this means boosting access to green spaces for millions of residents in parts of the North of England.
"Tree planting rates in England in the last two years are higher than at any other time in the previous two decades, and we are further improving access to nature and benefiting wildlife by creating three additional new national forests across the country."
Case studies from Northern Forest projects
Urban Forestry Services Team, Greater Manchester (City of Trees)
The City of Trees’ green skills programme aims to diversify the sector, engaging people in forestry and environmental roles. Through training and partnerships, City of Trees empower individuals from non-traditional backgrounds to get involved in green jobs, building a skilled workforce to support nature recovery across Greater Manchester.
The programme aims to address the skills gap in the forestry sector, encourage wider participation and increase awareness of the importance of urban woodland creation and management. They work with partner organisations and job and skill agencies across Greater Manchester to create opportunities for people with varying needs and backgrounds.
The team builds on City of Trees as a trusted delivery partner within Greater Manchester. Importantly, having an in-house team means there is far less reliance on using external contractors and keeps resources and skills within the city region.
To date, the team have planted over 38,051 sapling trees, working on more than 65 sites.
One project last year saw the team plant 30 standard (semi-mature) trees at seven fire stations across Greater Manchester. The in-house team have also played an important role in City of Trees’ largest woodland creation scheme to date at Greenbooth Reservoir in Rochdale. The project was delivered in partnership with the landowner, United Utilities, and the in-house team have been tasked with delivering the maintenance and establishment element of the project. Aftercare will be required for over 17,000 trees, planted across 21 hectares (52 acres) of the uplands.
Dent Road, Hull (Humber Forest)
Hull City Council has planted new trees alongside Dent Road, creating a small urban woodland for the community to enjoy and enhancing the area for wildlife. This woodland means there are both trees and space for these recreational activities.
Working together, Humber Forest and Rewilding Youth planted 576 trees, including a range of native species such as oak, wild cherry, bird cherry, alder, willow and beech.
A key goal of this project was to involve local residents to ensure they understood the benefits of the woodland and felt a sense of ownership over the new trees. Lots of residents also attended the community tree planting day, where families were encouraged to plant their own trees and mark them using What3Words, allowing them to track their tree’s growth for years to come.
The woodland remains fully open to the public. By combining both trees and open land, the local community can continue to use and enjoy the space for recreation.
Christ Church, Eccleston (The Mersey Forest)
A community-led woodland creation project in Eccleston, St Helens, is demonstrating how trees can deliver lasting benefits for people, nature and local heritage. Supported by The Mersey Forest, Christ Church Eccleston worked with local residents, volunteers, schools and community groups to transform an underused field into a thriving mosaic of woodland, orchard, wildflower habitat and open parkland.
The project was shaped by local people from the outset, ensuring the site remains an accessible space for recreation, reflection and community activities while enhancing biodiversity. In spring 2026, volunteers and around 120 pupils from a local primary school helped plant 648 trees, creating stronger habitat links with nearby Mill Wood Local Nature Reserve.
As the new trees establish, the site will support wildlife, store carbon, improve resilience to wetter conditions and provide a valuable green space at the heart of the community.
Top O’ Th’ Hill, Calderdale (The White Rose Forest)
Local volunteers and businesses have played an important part in the planting and care for new native woodland at Top O’ Th’ Hill this year, strengthening community stewardship for this steep 16-hectare site near Todmorden in West Yorkshire.
The White Rose forest manages Top O’ Th’ Hill on a long-term lease and aims to protect and enhance this special environment for both local people and wildlife to enjoy for many generations to come. The new woodland connects with and helps to protect existing ancient woodland on the site, as well as improving biodiversity and water holding in areas that were previously rough grazing land.
Experts from the White Rose Forest team have developed an extensive management plan for Top O’ Th’ Hill as well as grassland and ancient woodland assessments to identify potential Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) uplift. The team is also supporting wider community involvement and working with local volunteers who will help monitor the ongoing condition of the site.
Swindells Wood, Lancashire (The Woodland Trust)
The creation of Swindells Wood brought together an incredible 832 volunteers, including local schoolchildren, community groups and corporate teams, who planted all 5,175 trees across the eight-hectare (20-acre) site.
Over two weeks, volunteers helped establish a diverse mix of native broadleaf species, including oak, birch, willow, hazel, field maple, cherry, hawthorn and blackthorn. Their efforts have created a new woodland that will provide vital habitat for wildlife, improve biodiversity and become a valued green space for the local community for generations to come.
The land for the project was kindly gifted to the Woodland Trust by the Peel Bank Woodland and Conservation Trust, with the late Gordon Swindell, its founder, planting many of the existing woodland trees the land encompasses. Standing near those established tree, volunteers were able to see how the area they were planting might look in the future.
For more information, visit the Northern Forest website.
Notes to editors
About the Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust was established in 1972 and is now the UK's largest woodland conservation charity, with more than 500,000 members and supporters.
With a vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, today the Trust owns and cares for more than 1,000 woodland sites, covering around 33,000 hectares.
The Woodland Trust has three key aims:
protecting the UK's rare, unique and irreplaceable ancient woodland
restoring damaged ancient woodland, nurturing precious pieces of our natural heritage back to life
establishing new native woods and trees to create healthy, resilient landscapes for people and wildlife.
Access to all Woodland Trust woods is free so everyone can experience the physical and mental benefits of trees.