South Gloucestershire Council as part of a partnership has won a bid for Western Forest to become a new national forest. We are excited to share the news that the Western Forest is the new national forest.
The new national forest, announced by the Government on 21 March 2025, will serve over 2.5 million people in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and West of England. The forest partnership will work with landowners, businesses and local communities to plant 2500 hectares of new woodland and other tree habitats in its first five years, with an aspiration to plant 20 million trees by 2050.
The Western Forest will be led by the Forest of Avon, one of England’s Community Forests, and supported by Defra funding and National Forest Company. It is the result of a successful regional partnership with contributions from more than 40 organisations including the Natural History Consortium, the region’s councils, the Great Western Community Forest and the West of England Combined Authority.
Priority areas
Over the first five years, new priority areas will be brought into scope through this new national forest to maximise social, economic and environmental benefits.
Five priority areas, from the rolling hills of the Cotswold National Landscape and Mendips to vibrant urban centres like Bristol, Gloucester and Swindon, embody the greatest opportunities and benefits for nature and people. Alongside accelerating tree-planting in local areas, the project will work to revitalise existing woodlands and other important habitats to create a forest network for people and wildlife at a truly landscape scale.
