About
The White Rose Forest
The White Rose Forest is the community forest for North and West Yorkshire, working in partnership with local authorities, landowners, businesses and communities to increase woodland across the region and improve our natural environment.
The White Rose Forest is not a single ‘forest’, but the network of all trees, woods and forests across North and West Yorkshire, including trees in gardens and on residential streets, in town and city centres, along transport routes, in parks and green spaces, by rivers and lakes, on farmland and in the countryside.
Through our partnership we are planting millions of trees in our urban centres and countryside that will help manage flood risk, mitigate the impact of climate change, create jobs and provide happier and healthier places for us all to live, work in and enjoy.
Our Vision, as set out in the White Rose Forest Strategic Plan 2025-2050
The White Rose Forest partnership is leading landscape transformation in North and West Yorkshire, creating a vast and varied treescape that connects and permeates our towns, cities and countryside. Our work has made our region more prosperous and resilient to a changing climate, improved health and wellbeing and supported nature recovery.
Your local community forest
Our communities are at the heart of the White Rose Forest and everything we do. We plant trees for the benefit of everyone in North and West Yorkshire. We also aim to increase the involvement and connection of our local communities with the planning, planting and management of trees and woodland.
The White Rose Forest is the largest of England’s Community Forests and one of four northern community forests working together with the Woodland Trust and the Community Forest Trust to deliver the Northern Forest programme between Merseyside and the Yorkshire coast.
England’s Community Forests
England’s Community Forests is the leading woodland creation force in the country. A diverse and growing network of 15 unique Community Forests working to help nature recover and regenerate the landscapes in and around our largest towns and cities. We are ensuring that trees and woodlands are at the very heart of communities up and down the country, unlocking countless benefits for people and planet. We work to support each other and amplify our voice nationally.
Working in partnership
The White Rose Forest partnership was established on 1 August 2000 and is governed by a Board that includes all local authorities, combined authorities and national parks in North and West Yorkshire. The White Rose Forest partnership includes national landscape organisations, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) organisations, as well as national, regional and local charities, businesses and community enterprises who are working together to deliver the White Rose Forest Strategic Plan 2025-2050.
Interest and support for tree planting and woodland creation has gained significant momentum across the country since 2020. The White Rose Forest partnership has been at the forefront of this programme with over 2.5 million trees being planted across over 2000 hectares (about 2,800 football pitches) from 2020 to 2025.
How we work
We are experts in woodland creation and management and work with landowners, businesses and communities to support the planning, funding and planting of new tree planting projects.
The White Rose Forest partnership supports a multi-disciplinary design-led approach to the planting of new woodland that produces a range of benefits for the landscape, wildlife and communities.
Please contact us to discuss your project or follow the link below to find out more about how we can support landowners to plant trees.
Landscapes for water
The Landscapes for Water programme provides a strategic approach to natural flood management and focuses on the creation of new woodland along key river valleys or catchments to help reduce flood risk for communities further downstream.
Green Streets
Green Streets is focused on integrating tree planting into the planning of urban areas and transport corridors to create a greener and healthier environment for us all in our towns and cities.
Latest news
Read the latest news from the White Rose Forest and our partners.
Our Team
The White Rose Forest partnership is supported by a team of woodland creation and management experts and specialists.
White Rose Forest policies and position statements
The White Rose Forest partnership is committed to following the UK Forestry Standard, the reference standard for sustainable woodland management across the UK. We incorporate best practice design in all our tree planting projects and work closely with Natural England to avoid damaging existing priority habitats.
Follow the links below to download PDF information sheets about woodland management in the White Rose Forest:
Recent research
Research Paper: Site specific Factors More Selective than Clough Woodland on Ground Nest Predation – James Lockwood, 2024
The purpose of this research was to determine whether clough woodland increases ground nest predation and, by inference impact on ground nesting moorland birds.
PDF Link: Ground nest predation in clough woodland research paper
