Summary
The Active Forests programme (‘Active Forests’) aims to create a physical activity habit for life for visitors to the public forest estate in England.
This page summarises details of the monitoring and evaluation of phase 2 of the Active Forests programme, which ran for five years from 2017-2022 across 18 sites, from large forests in national parks to peri-urban forests.
To find out more about the Active Forests programme and Forest Research’s wider involvement in monitoring and evaluating it across other phases of delivery, visit the Active Forests evaluation overview page.
Research Objectives
- What types of physical activities are undertaken and enjoyed in forests as part of the Active Forests Programme and by whom?
- Are there added or differing benefits or challenges of undertaking physical activities in forest environments as opposed to more traditional sporting venues such as leisure centres, sports fields/tracks?
- Is there evidence of any sustained physical activity behaviours or changes in behaviour?
- Are there any perceived health and well-being benefits being realised from participating in the Active Forests programme?
