Introduction

This chapter contains statistics on:

• UK woodland area;
• certified woodland area;
• areas of new planting and restocking; and
• felling.

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 the Sources chapter.

Figures on woodland area and certified woodland area at March 2019 and on new planting and restocking for the period 2018-19 were previously published in “Provisional Woodland Statistics: 2019 edition”, released on 13 June 2019, and have not been revised. Some figures for Statutory Plant Health Notices in previous years have been revised from those previously published. For further details on revisions, see the Woodland Areas and Planting: Felling section of the Sources chapter.

A copy of all woodland area and planting tables, along with longer time series (where available) can be accessed in spreadsheet format from the Data Downloads web page at www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/data-downloads/.

Key findings

The main findings are:

• The area of woodland in the UK at 31 March 2019 is estimated to be 3.19 million hectares. This represents 13% of the total land area in the UK, 10% in England, 15% in Wales, 19% in Scotland and 8% in Northern Ireland.
• Of the total UK woodland area, 0.86 million hectares (27%) 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 2019 is 1.40 million hectares, including all Forestry England/Forestry and Land Scotland/Natural Resources Wales/Forest Service woodland. Overall, 44% of the UK woodland area is certified.
• Thirteen thousand hectares of new woodland were created in the UK in 2018-19, with conifers accounting for 60% of this area.
• A total of 842 sites were served with a Statutory Plant Health Notice in 2018-19, requiring a total of 3.8 thousand hectares of woodland to be felled.  (This excludes areas felled within the Phytophthora ramorum management zone in south west Scotland, where a Statutory Plant Health Notice is not required).

Additional resources

Sources chapter: Woodland area and planting