Tree canopy and woodland cover Environment Act target delivery plan
Statutory Environment Act target
Increase England’s tree canopy and woodland cover to at least 16.5% of all land in England by 31 December 2050.
Interim target
Increase England’s tree canopy and woodland cover by 0.33% of land area by December 2030 from the 2022 baseline of 14.9%, equivalent to a net increase of 43,000 hectares.
The statutory target was originally set in the context of a provisional reference baseline of canopy cover. The reference baseline was updated in the 2023 Official Forestry Statistics to 14.9% of land area. The 2030 interim target was set against the amended reference baseline.
Rationale for the interim target: why and how it will progress delivery of the Environment Act target
Achieving the 2030 interim target will require a net increase of 43,000 hectares of tree canopy and woodland cover between 2022 and 2030.
The following section explains what the interim target is based on and how it supports delivery of the Environment Act target.
Land availability
Forestry Commission mapping (A guide to Forestry Commission’s sensitivity maps for woodland creation) identifies around 2.9 million hectares of low sensitivity land suitable for woodland creation. This mapping excludes areas that are less appropriate for afforestation, such as best and most versatile agricultural land, and designated landscapes (including all National Parks and National Landscapes). As well as excluding land with other environmental sensitivities, such as priority habitat, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and areas containing Historic Environment assets. This suggests that sufficient suitable land exists to achieve the interim target, but with target delivery dependent on scheme uptake and demand.
The Land Use Framework notes the Forestry Commission will develop regional forestry targets. These will, in turn, facilitate local delivery of the statutory target, while aligning with priorities set out in Local Nature Recovery Strategies.
Woodland creation planting forecasts to 2030
Delivery forecasts indicate there is sufficient anticipated demand to deliver the 43,000 hectares net increase in tree canopy cover required by the interim target. This takes into account anticipated woodland loss over the same time period, as well as delivery risks, such as extreme weather events or shifts in land manager behaviour. However, as tree planting is dependent on voluntary uptake (which in turn is influenced by wider economic and social factors) there will be residual uncertainty in the projections.
The majority of planting contributing towards the target will be government funded, through schemes such as the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) and regional Woodland Creation Partnerships. Planting associated with the roll-out of projects under the Environmental Land Management Landscape Recovery scheme from 2025 onwards is also expected to deliver high levels of woodland creation in future years.
The forecasts assume that non-government funded tree planting will make a low to medium contribution towards the interim target. Although, this is likely to make a greater contribution in the longer-term as actions to support private investment into woodland creation take effect. We are exploring the development of the Woodland Carbon Purchase Fund. This is to support land managers, woodland developers and investors by offering to purchase woodland carbon credits over decades, ensuring long-term demand.
Planting of trees outside woodland
The interim target assumes the net increase in tree canopy and woodland cover comes solely from woodland. New planting of trees outside woodland is assumed only to offset losses of trees outside woodland to pests, diseases, development and natural mortality. This assumption is made due to limited data on how the canopy cover of trees outside woodland is changing over time. As well as uncertainty about how quickly newly planted trees outside woodland will appear in target monitoring data. (Individual trees or small clusters of trees that are newly planted may not appear in remote sensing images until they are larger, creating a time lag between planting and detection.) We will reassess these assumptions as improved monitoring data become available.
Planting after 2030
To meet the 16.5% target, we must increase tree canopy and woodland cover by a further 1.27% of England’s land area beyond the 2030 interim target. This is equivalent to a net increase of approximately 167,000 hectares. We consider this achievable based on assessment of feasible long-term delivery by the target delivery levers, although uncertainty remains in the forecasts due to the long timeframe involved.
Delivery measures
The target will be delivered by a range of levers which are summarised in Table 1.
Table 1: Summary of delivery measures and supporting evidence for tree planting (gross hectares) under the interim tree canopy and woodland cover delivery plan
| Delivery measure | Description | Estimated contribution to the interim targets | Evidence of impact | Responsible | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National grants for woodland creation | The England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) is the national woodland creation grant for England, providing funding to land managers for woodland creation. | High | Annual planting rates funded through EWCO have increased year on year, reaching 2,364ha in 2025 to 2026. A strong pipeline of potential future woodland creation projects exists, including that created through the Woodland Creation Planning Grant (which provides funding to land managers to develop a UK Forestry Standard compliant woodland creation design plan). | Defra, Forestry Commission (FC), Natural England (NE) | In delivery |
| Regional woodland creation initiatives | We fund a range of regionally led woodland creation offers, designed to support local priorities. The largest of these is the Community Forest Network Trees for Climate Programme. | High | The regional woodland creation initiatives funded by the Nature for Climate Fund (NCF) Trees Programme delivered a combined total of 1,648 ha of woodland creation between 2025 and 2026. Evaluation evidence has shown that the tailored support offered by the schemes is effective in maintaining demand. | Defra and the regional woodland creation initiatives | In delivery |
| Landscape Recovery | The Landscape Recovery scheme supports groups of farmers and land managers to co-design bespoke landscape-scale habitat and ecosystem recovery projects. The large scale and contiguous nature of the schemes maximise environmental and climate benefits. | Medium high | Landscape Recovery is a new delivery mechanism expected to significantly increase in scale over the next 5 years. Three Landscape Recovery projects have begun their implementation phase with more progressing through pre-implementation stages. The achieved delivery of these will be reflected in future reporting cycles, once target contributions can be measured. | Defra, FC, NE | In delivery |
| Privately funded planting | We are developing policy to encourage more private sector investment into woodland creation via timber, wood product, carbon and nature markets. This will play an important role in ensuring tree planting is economically viable for more land managers. | Low–medium (with the potential to increase further post-2030, depending on development of nature and carbon markets). | Impact of individual measures will be assessed as they mature. | Defra, forestry sector, land managers, investors | In development |
| Planting by government departments and by other agencies and public bodies | Tree planting is carried out on government land where it aligns with wider estate strategy and management plans. Most significant in scale is planting by Forestry England to enhance the nation’s forests. To strengthen ambition and align departments’ existing nature recovery strategies with the EIP, we published a Government Estate Nature Plan in June 2026. This aligns with the proposed ambition of the National Estate for Nature group. The group will bring together government, private, institutional and third sector bodies to agree contributions to tree planting and wider targets for nature. The Protected Landscapes (National Parks and National Landscapes) have already set a target to increase their tree canopy and woodland cover by 3% by 2050. | Low | Forestry England delivered 733ha of woodland creation between 2025 and 2026 through the NCF Trees Programme. Some government departments, agencies and public bodies also undertake or facilitate tree planting activity outside the NCF Trees Programme, although specific data on this is limited. There is scope to increase planting through this route. | Forestry England, Environment Agency and other government departments, agencies and public bodies | In delivery |
| Planting of trees outside woodland | We are supporting planting of trees outside woodland (TOW) through a range of offers, including support for low-density in-field agroforestry and urban trees. In 2025 to 2026, we supported a dedicated TOW fund in partnership with the Tree Council. Trees outside woodland are also planted by eNGOs and community groups. | Planting of trees outside woodland is not assumed to make a net contribution to the interim target, with planting assumed to offset losses to pests and diseases, development and natural mortality. | The grant landscape has generated significant increase in recent years. In 2025 to 2026, 925,000 trees outside woodland were planted (equivalent to around 1,137ha), making up approximately 18% of total tree canopy and woodland cover established in that year. [As noted in previous column, at this point in time, there is expected to be no net contribution to the tree canopy and woodland cover target. This assumption will be reassessed as a longer time series of monitoring data on trees outside woodland becomes available.] | Defra, FC, NE, Rural Payments Agency (RPA), local authorities, eNGOs and community groups | In delivery |
Enabling measures
The enabling measures are not quantified, as they support delivery indirectly, rather than through measurable contributions.
Table 2: Summary of enabling measures and supporting evidence for tree planting under the interim tree canopy and woodland cover delivery plan
| Delivery measure | Description | Evidence of impact | Responsible | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building sector capacity (workforce and tree supply) | Defra and the Forestry Commission are working with the forestry sector to implement a range of measures to increase sector capacity at pace. This includes innovation funding to support tree nursery capacity and resilience, as well as support for forestry apprenticeships and short courses. | Delivery of the statutory target will require further policy intervention to encourage the required growth and skills development in the workforce and support increased workforce diversity. Similarly, investment in nursery capacity is required to ensure adequate diversity of species and provenance of tree seed. | Defra, FC, tree nurseries, forestry sector, tertiary education colleges | In delivery |
| Facilitating behaviour change through advice and guidance | We are working to promote tree planting to land managers through a variety of initiatives. These include national and local communications campaigns, as well as targeted support to land managers through 1:1 engagement, advice and site visits. Environmental NGOs and membership organisations within the forestry sector also play an important role in promoting tree planting to a range of audiences. | Evaluation data has consistently highlighted that support, advice, guidance and early stakeholder involvement should be embedded into tree planting schemes. | Defra, FC, NE, regional woodland creation partnerships, local authorities, forestry sector, eNGOs, community and volunteer groups | In delivery |
| Increasing tree and woodland resilience | Target delivery will be dependent not only on increasing planting rates but also on increasing the resilience of existing canopy cover. This includes increasing woodland management levels and improving woodland structure, and ensuring new trees planted survive to maturity. Tree and woodland resilience is supported through a range of government grants, as well as through targeted advice and guidance to land managers. | The Interim Evaluation of the NCF Trees Programme identified that interventions to promote, measure and monitor woodland management and resilience are vital to ensure the successful establishment of woodlands long-term. | Defra, FC, NE | In delivery |
| Streamlining the processes required to sustainably plant trees at scale | We are exploring measures to streamline the tree planting approval process, while still maintaining appropriate environmental safeguards. | Evaluation evidence has found that the complexity of regulatory and grant-giving processes act as a barrier and cause delays to planting. The impact of measures to streamline the planting process will be assessed as they are implemented. | Defra, FC | In development |
Key milestones
Most tree planting occurs during the tree planting season, which runs between November and March. At the end of each planting season, lessons learned exercises are held to assess progress and identify opportunities to increase uptake further. Alongside publication of annual planting statistics, this allows for regular review of target delivery progress.
We will publish a Trees Action Plan in 2026 to set out further detail of the action we will take to deliver the tree canopy and woodland cover target. The action plan will also set out how we will improve the resilience and condition of our trees and woodland. In doing so, it will ensure they continue to bring multiple benefits for nature, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and flood resilience. It will also secure benefits for people and the economy for generations to come.
Illustrative trajectory
Figure 1 provides an illustrative trajectory for delivering the interim and statutory tree canopy and woodland cover targets. It shows the net gain in tree canopy cover from the 2022 reference baseline of 14.9% of England’s land area, rising to the statutory target of 16.5% by 2050. The trajectory starts with a gentler slope before 2025, then increases in a near linear profile through to 2050.
Figure 1. Illustrative trajectory to the 16.5% tree canopy and woodland cover target – 2022 to 2050
Monitoring and evaluation summary
This section summarises the monitoring methodology and approach to evaluation of delivery mechanisms.
Monitoring
Tree canopy and woodland cover is an aggregate metric which includes woodland cover (including integral open space and land temporarily cleared of trees as part of sustainable management) and tree canopy cover outside woodland. Woodland is defined as an area of trees of at least 0.5 ha, a minimum width of 20 metres and at least 20% tree canopy cover (or having the potential to achieve this). It does not include planting with the sole purpose of energy forestry.
The metric captures both canopy gains, from planting and natural colonisation, and losses due to natural mortality, development, pests and diseases or conversion of woodland to open ground habitat.
We will formally assess progress against the statutory target when we report on whether interim targets have been achieved. Progress assessments will be made by reconciling and calibrating satellite and aerial images of tree cover with administrative datasets on new planting and woodland loss. In the intervening years, administrative datasets can be used to provide a partial assessment of progress, with annual assessments of woodland area and new planting of woodland contained in the annual Forestry Statistics, available on the Forest Research website. The Forestry Commission’s Annual Key Performance Indicator reports publish additional information on land under agroforestry schemes and the planting of trees outside woodland. They also report on net changes in woodland area, including losses to development.
Evaluation
Over the period 2020 to 2021 to 2025 to 2026, the largest delivery mechanism for tree planting and woodland creation in England has been the Nature for Climate Fund Trees Programme. The programme has been evaluated over 3-stages and is now in its final stage, due to report final findings later this year. The evaluation is being conducted in line with Magenta Book principles. This has included a process, impact and value-for-money evaluations, as well as a series of deep dives. Learnings from the evaluation are being used to inform future delivery of the Trees Programme.
We are developing evaluation plans for delivery up to 2030 and beyond, including scheme-level evaluation of tree planting offers delivered by the Farming and Countryside Programme. These will further strengthen our understanding of delivery effectiveness and support continuous improvement.