Completion of Heart of the Pennines Forest project

14 May 2025

The Heart of the Pennines Forest project, a three-year Trees Call to Action Fund project in the North Pennines, has delivered a wide range of nature recovery, engagement and employment activity supporting the key themes of the England Trees Action Plan.

The Trees Call to Action Fund, part of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) £640 million Nature for Climate Fund Programme, supports projects in England which protect trees and woodlands, boost forestry skills and jobs, develop woodland creation partnerships, and engage communities with nature.

In March 2022, the North Pennines National Landscape was awarded £499,100 with match funding of £35,000 from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, £16,000 from the Woodland Trust and £15,000 from the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust for the Heart of the Pennines Forest project.

Delivered by the North Pennines National Landscape team, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, with support from the Woodland Trust and Forestry Commission, the project area bridges the gap between the existing Great Northumberland National Forest to the north and the Northern Forest initiative to the south.

The North Pennines is one of the least wooded areas of England and establishing more trees in the landscape is a priority. Trees in the uplands help to reduce water run-off and flooding in communities downstream, clean our water and air, store carbon as well as providing shade and shelter for livestock on farms. They provide critical food resource and habitat for wildlife, including rare upland birds such as black grouse.

It can take many forms – woodland, scrub, wood pasture, agro-forestry, hedges. However, careful thought and planning is required to ensure that increasing woodland isn’t at the expense of existing priority habitats and species, such as curlew, species-rich grasslands, blanket bog. The team has developed a ‘tree potential zone’ model to establish the best places for trees to go.

Over the past three years the team has worked with over 120 land managers to increase and manage tree cover in the North Pennines. This has included advice to identify the best locations, design and species to fit with the landscape and existing priority habitats and species as well as support with surveying, planning, accessing funding, and advice on managing existing woodland for nature recovery.

The team advised on 946 hectares of land, identifying 308 hectares as suitable for trees. They were able to 37 landowners secure funding, including five schemes through the England Woodland Creation Offer, and a total of 52 hectares was planted. The programme secured a total investment of £737,942 for trees, people and the green economy.

Project partners, Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, established three community tree nurseries to engage local communities and supply native upland species, and employed four woodland trainees who gained industry experience.

The tree potential zone model, which identifies areas where tree planting would have the least negative affect on important populations of wading birds that rely on open, treeless landscapes to thrive, is to be included in nature recovery priorities within the forthcoming North Pennines National Landscape management plan.

Sarah Tooze, Biodiversity Lead at the North Pennines National Landscape team, said: “The project focussed on the kinds of tree cover – small scale woodlands and low-density wood pasture with scrub and scattered canopy trees – which work alongside nature friendly farming systems and will improve the landscape for biodiversity and other public goods. Offering advice and support for the management of existing woodland has been important to maximise their benefit for wildlife.”

The North Pennines National Landscape team offer advice and support to land managers, farmers and landowners who wish to increase tree cover, manage woodland, and access funding for small-scale planting. For further information please contact info@northpennines.org.uk.

Notes for editors

1. The Trees Call to Action Fund is part of the Government’s wider Nature for Climate Fund, announced as part of the 2020 Budget. Grants are available from £250,000 to £500,000 to be spent over three years and will cover capital and revenue costs.
2. The England Trees Action Plan committed to treble tree planting rates in England by the end of this Parliament, supported by an intended £500m from the Nature for Climate Fund.
3. In the recently launched Net Zero Strategy (Oct 2021), the Government announced that it will boost the Nature for Climate Fund with a further £124 million of new money, ensuring total spend of more than £750 million by 2025 on peat restoration, woodland creation and management – above and beyond what was promised in the manifesto.
4. The Trees Call to Action Fund is being delivered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Heritage Fund inspires, leads and resources the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future. www.heritagefund.org.uk
5. For media enquiries relating to Heart of the Pennines Forest project, please contact Sarah Hudspeth, shudspeth@northpennines.org.uk
   For media queries relating to the Trees Call to Action Fund, please contact newsdesk@defra.gov.uk
6. Images: insert information on selected images. For alternative images, please contact the communications team on communications@northpennines.org.uk