Trees and woods: at the heart of nature recovery in England

We are in a nature crisis. England is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Government has made a commitment to halt the decline of species by 2030 and increase the abundance of wildlife thereafter.

Our Trees and woods: at the heart of nature recovery in England report shows the central role that England’s trees and woods should play in recovering nature, and provides recommendations for national and local government to implement to make this happen.

The report lays out principles for nature recovery at three scales – landscape, woodland, and tree scale – and demonstrates the need to better protect woods and trees, restore more wooded habitats to good ecological condition, and create new native woods and trees to form wildlife-rich mosaics with other habitat types.

It also shows how these actions can provide the resilient, dynamic ecosystems needed to stabilise and then increase the populations of England’s most vulnerable and threatened species, and keep common wildlife species common.