Over 13 million trees have now taken root since 2018 as part of the Northern Forest project, in an area that stretches from Liverpool to the Humber Estuary, according to recent analysis by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU).
The new data, published on 24 September 2026, reveals that tree planting by Northern Forest partners, including the White Rose Forest, means that 738,000 more households in the North of England now have a wooded site within a 15-minute walk of their home. One third of these households are from low-income communities.
Planting has taken place in both urban and rural settings, including in and around Manchester, Leeds and York, as well as rural landscapes like the Peak District. The woodland habitats now cover an area equivalent to just over 9,200 football pitches, bringing green spaces to bustling town and city centres, creating valuable habitats for wildlife and giving more people access to woods and trees. The analysis was conducted by LJMU’s Natural Capital Hub, a leading research centre for understanding the environmental, economic and social benefits of woodlands, wetlands, grasslands and more.
Established in 2018, the Northern Forest is a partnership between the Woodland Trust, the Community Forest Trust and four of the Community Forests in the North of England – The Mersey Forest, City of Trees (Greater Manchester), the White Rose Forest and Humber Forest. The partnership is working to deliver a major programme of environmental and economic transformation by planting at least 50 million trees across the North of England over 25 years.
The partnership’s success is also supported by a wide range of national and local organisations, including local authorities, Rivers Trusts, the National Trust, Forestry England, water utility companies and the Forestry Commission. The Northern Forest project has been made possible thanks to government support since its establishment, with funding through the Trees for Climate programme, led by England's Community Forests, awarded earlier this year.
The benefits of the work by Northern Forest partners is already being felt by communities across the area. Trees play a vital role in supporting people, nature and the economy, helping to mitigate the impact of climate change, reduce the impact of heatwaves, enhance health and wellbeing and drive economic growth across the region. The incredible scale of this positive impact can be seen in the figures to date.
- The Northern Forest is generating £50 million of economic uplift every year through natural benefits such as flood mitigation, improved air quality and access to nature.
- Trees that have been planted are estimated to provide two million cubic metres of additional flood water storage – roughly equal to 794 Olympic-sized swimming pools. This is reducing the risk of flooding to communities and businesses, and the economic cost it brings, through natural flood management.
- Over 738,000 households now have access to at least one wooded site planted under the Northern Forest programme, including 227,000 households in some of the most deprived communities, now within a 15-minute walk of recently planted wooded habitat.
- Total planting in the Northern Forest is projected to remove over 200 tonnes of harmful airborne pollutants every year.
- 40,000 tonnes of carbon are being locked up every year by the trees that have been planted, the equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of 29,300 cars.
The Northern Forest also promotes tree equity, which means it is reducing the disparity between people’s access to trees and woodlands in different parts of the country. When the Northern Forest programme began in 2018, the region had just 7.6% tree cover, in comparison to a UK average of 13%. The Northern Forest programme is helping to transform a landscape with critically low tree cover to one that can deliver the economic, health, nature and climate benefits associated with trees to the areas of greatest need.
If you would like to plant trees on your land in North or West Yorkshire please contact the White Rose Forest team.