England's Community Forestsare located in and around large towns and cities.
They create high-quality environments for millions of people through creating green spaces, boosting biodiversity and improving access to nature. These in turn boost people's health and wellbeing. They also provide urban and economic regeneration and will be a great legacy for generations to come.
We successfully bid to government for funds to create Heartwood and we'll be aiming to plant 300,000 trees on pockets of publicly accessible land by March 2025. This will support our ambition to facilitate the planting of a million trees by 2030.
The community forest will stretch over a geographic area of approximately 289 square miles including the following areas:
- Amber Valley - Alfreton, Somercotes, Heanor, Ripley, Codnor
- Bolsover - Barlborough, Clowne, Bolsover, Shirebrook, Pleasley, South Normanton, Pinxton, Tibshelf, Glapwell
- Chesterfield - Birdholme, Boythorpe, Brampton, Brimington, Chesterfield, Loundsley Green and Newbold, Staveley, Whittington
- Erewash - Breadsall, West Hallam, Breaston, Horsley, Ilkeston, Long Eaton, Sandiacre, Sawley
- North East Derbyshire - Aston, Clay Cross, Dronfield, Eckington and Killamarsh, Sutton, Wingerworth, Shirland
- South Derbyshire - Etwall and Repton, Hilton, Melbourne
- Derby
Be part of Derbyshire's Heartwood Community Forest
We're looking for farmers and other landowners with space available to plant trees as part of Derbyshire's Heartwood Community Forest.
Many of the sites that Community Forests work on are public land - including parks, playing fields and public spaces in urban areas. But private landowners are also needed to increase the tree cover across the community forest area. Public access to woodland on private land is encouraged but not essential.
Grants are available for farmers and other landowners within the boundary of the community forest area which runs along the eastern fringe of Derbyshire and through southern Derbyshire, joining the National Forest and linking an existing network of 13 community forests in England.
A list of communities within the community forest boundary are on this page along with a map of the area.
We're leading the project to create a community forest in Derbyshire funded by the England's Community Forests Trees for Climate fund. The fund, which is part of the government's Nature for Climate programme, offers one of the most competitive grant schemes for tree planting available today.
Funding available for landowners
Grants are available, through the Trees for Climate fund, to support a range of different woodland options, from small-scale tree planting and low-density tree planting to large multi-use woodlands extending more than 5 hectare.
Landowners can apply for grant funding to cover the cost of:
- tree planting to create new woodland
- associated infrastructure such as fencing and gates
- ongoing maintenance to ensure new woodlands thrive
We will also provide expert and impartial advice and support to guide landowners through planning, funding and planting.
Scale and type of planting
Grant funding is available for landowners to create woodlands of various types as part of Derbyshire's Heartwood Community Forest.
We welcome applications for a range of different woodlands from small plantings to larger scale areas.
Examples of woodlands funding can be used to support:
- multi-use woodland (more than 5 hectare) - minimum of 1,600 tree per hectare, no single species more than 70%, up to 20% woody shrubs
- small scale tree planting (0.5-4.99 hectare) - minimum of 1,100 trees per hectare, up to 20% woody shrubs
- very small-scale tree planting (0.1-0.49 hectare) - minimum of 1,100 trees per hectare, up to 20% woody shrubs, fruit trees accepted
- low density tree planting - minimum of 25 trees per hectare, minimum final canopy cover of 20% across area planted, species appropriate to context
- hedgerows with / without trees - 5 plants per linear metre, trees planted every 15 metres as appropriate, 70% native or locally characteristic
- natural colonisation - must achieve minimum of 60% woody cover and 100 trees per hectare within 10 years
How to apply
At this stage we're asking anyone who would like to get involved and has land available within the community forest boundary area to register their interest, email secretariat@communityforest.org.uk.
We will contact everyone who registers their interest to discuss further details and next steps.