Our story
by York Community Woodland
City of York Council is creating an extensive community woodland on 78 hectares of land to the west of York, planting 50,000 trees by 2023 as a nature-based solution to climate change mitigation.
In 2019, City of York Council announced a climate emergency and have since set an ambition for York to be a net-zero carbon city by 2030. We recognise the threat of climate change and also the importance of acting now to protect our climate for the future.
Even under the most ambitious pathways, achieving net zero carbon through emissions reduction alone will be unlikely. Changing land use to offset emissions across the city is therefore an important part of the solution.
The new woodland will be a well-designed, bio-diverse, green space providing a place for peaceful contemplation and leisure for the people of York. This will create a new stray for the city, support the climate change ambition, enhance the setting of the city and make York a better place to live, work and visit.
The Woodland's design has been shaped by extensive community and stakeholder engagement and incorporates opportunities for ongoing community and school involvement. The woodland project has also taken part in hosting York Walking Festival and York Environment Week, providing guided group walks around the site sharing the woodland vision and educating on wildlife in the area.
Eventually, it will become one of the biggest community woodlands in England - the aim is to see 210,000 trees planted in total over the next few years.
Our advice
Engage stakeholders early within a project. This is important for gaining local support but can also produce offers of expertise that add value to the process.
Take advantage of existing networks and support structures. Partners such as the White Rose Forest have been integral within our project. Providing a level of expert insight and support required to reach milestones achieved so far.
Be clear on your objectives but flexible in your approach – there needs to be a compelling reason why you are delivering the project, but with new funding streams becoming available all the time, you need to be open to different delivery models.
Spend time early on getting the survey work complete – there are some time critical elements which if not met can cause significant delays to your project (e.g. newt surveys and breeding bird surveys).
This project represents City of York Council's first venture in creating a large-scale community woodland. We recognise the importance of advice and partnership from experts within this field and are committed to representing the needs and requests of the city's residents.
Our Changeprint
Our Changeprint can be measured by establishing a thriving, large-scale community woodland that helps nature recover across the wider landscape; provides habitat for valuable and valued wildlife; helps to store carbon, alleviate soil erosion and prevent flooding; and provides a wonderful green space for the people of York to explore and enjoy.
