The future

• Produce and maintain the definitive inventory of accessible woodland across the UK (the inventory is updated annually and will be freely available)
• Help to focus and target woodland grants for public access
• Create targets for increased woodland access provision in existing woods. Space for People
• Create targets for new publicly accessible woodlands in areas with low woodland cover and high requirements for public access. Space for People

The Woodland Trust’s work

Keeping Woodland Alive details the Woodland Trust’s four principle objectives. These are:

1. No further loss of Ancient Woodland
2. Improving Woodland Biodiversity
3. Increasing new native woodland
4. Increasing enjoyment of woodland

Woods for the benefit of people not only provide much needed public access, but also help to improve local environments by benefiting air quality, landscape, biodiversity, providing shade, reducing stress levels amongst many other useful functions attributed to trees and woodland in urban situations.

Our findings Space for People: targeting action for woodland access - was published at the end of 2004, and includes targets for woodland creation and increasing access to existing woods.

While we will continue to maintain and update the Woods for People data with subsequent annual versions, Space for People will be reviewed on a less frequent basis, but we will undertake a full assessment of provision again in due course.

Please continue to send us information about your organisations accessible woods, as and when your information changes.

Forestry Commission’s further work

The  Forestry Commission England  will be primarily using the dataset to underpin the delivery of Regional Forestry Frameworks (the regional expression of the Government’s Strategy for England’s Trees, Woods and Forests, published in 2007). The Woods for People dataset will be used to identify priority areas for supporting accessible woodlands. These priorities may differ between regions but will all include bringing accessible woodland closer to people.

Forestry Commission Scotland proposes to use the standards as one indicator in the revised Scottish Forestry Strategy. The Woods for People GIS will be used alongside other spatial data as part of a computer analysis system being developed by Forestry Commission Scotland and partners, to establish priorities for resource allocation, policy setting, and local planning.

Forestry Commission Wales are using the dataset to help monitor progress in implementing Woodlands for Wales  - the National Assembly Strategy for Trees and Woodlands. The Welsh Assembly Government and Forestry Commission Wales are committed to extending access to woodland, particularly for disadvantaged communities. The dataset will help Forestry Commission Wales use spatial planning in the implementation of their policies, and in future we may use this dataset to help us prioritise areas where support for accessible woodlands is most needed.