Introduction

This chapter contains information on:

• UK woodland area;
• certified woodland area;
• areas of new planting and restocking;
• felling; and
• canopy cover in England.

Estimates for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are included in addition to UK totals. International comparisons are provided in the International Forestry chapter. Further information on the data sources and methodology used to compile the figures is provided in Chapter 10: Sources and Methodology.

Figures on woodland area and certified woodland area at 31 March 2024 and on new planting and restocking for the period 2023/24 were previously published in Provisional Woodland Statistics 2024, released on 20 June 2024. For further details on revisions, see the Woodland Areas and Planting section of Chapter 10: Sources and Methodology.

A copy of all woodland area and planting tables, along with longer time series (where available) can be accessed in spreadsheet format from our Time Series page.

Key findings

The main findings are:

• The area of woodland in the UK at 31 March 2024 is estimated to be 3.28 million hectares. This represents 15% of the total land area in the UK, 19% in Scotland, 15% in Wales, 10% in England, and 9% in Northern Ireland.
• Of the total UK woodland area, 0.86 million hectares is owned or managed by Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland, Natural Resources Wales or the Forest Service (in Northern Ireland).
• The total certified woodland area in the UK at 31 March 2024 is 1.44 million hectares, including all Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland, Welsh Government Woodland Estate and Forest Service woodland. Overall, 44% of the UK woodland area is certified.
• 20.66 thousand hectares of newly created woodland were reported in the UK in 2023/24.

Downloads

Chapter 1 - Woodland Area & Planting

PDF, 0.61 MB

Chapter 1 in PDF format

Chapter 1 - Woodland Area & Planting

ODS

Chapter 1 data set in OpenDocument Spreadsheet format