Latest woodland and natural heritage news

16th April 2012 - Help save Scotland's red squirrels

Once a common sight across mainland Britain, today red squirrels are sadly absent from most of England and Scotland’s central belt. Find out how you can help.

13th April 2012 - Win tickets to a Forestry Commission Live Music event

VistWoods have got two pairs of tickets up for grabs. Enter the draw quick if you'd like to see Alfie Boe or Will Young at a Live Music event this year.

6th April 2012 - National Spring Clean 2012

Why not give your favourite woods a spring clean this year by signing up to Keep Scotland Beautiful!

2nd April 2012 - Bluebells are early

The cold snap from February hasn’t stopped the bluebells from blooming two weeks earlier than last year. You can find out more about bluebell spotting and bluebell woods here

29th March 2012 - National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) changes

If you are wondering whether the government’s new national planning policy for England means any changes for woods, here’s our take on the matter. Access to the countryside and woods in particular is unaffected – best to watch the report of the Independent Panel on Forestry for recommendations around this when it is published later in the summer.

But protection afforded by planning policy for ancient woods remains pretty much as it was under the old policy, a presumption against development in and around them “except where the need for and benefit of the development clearly outweighs the value of the woodland. “ For the Woodland Trust, this is disappointing but not surprising given the push for growth. They had argued hard to remove this loophole which allows ancient woods to be damaged or destroyed in certain circumstances – this is no hypothetical concern; there are more than 200 cases of ancient woods under threat in England from development at present and in the past 10 years they have been involved in over 600 cases.

While Greg Clark, the planning minister says the policy recognises the intrinsic value of the countryside, requires net improvements to the environment and supports healthy living, there is no requirement for developments to incorporate new green spaces into their design from the outset. In short the new policy doesn’t go far enough in terms of protecting ancient woods once and for all or promoting the value of new woods and trees as a critical element of good design.

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