With a little helping hand, Forestry England is letting nature transform more than 8,000 hectares of land in four of the nation’s forests. Taking a new approach to managing forest landscapes, the organisation is creating four wild areas where nature recovery will be at the forefront while still producing sustainable timber and welcoming visitors.

Forestry England is the country’s largest land manager with over a quarter of a million hectares in their care and a long history of successful wildlife conservation. This puts them in a great position to work across large landscapes to restore nature. This new work, letting nature take the lead, will over decades make them the most valuable places for wildlife across England. And longer-term, biodiversity benefits will spread out across other forests and the wider countryside.

Kielder Forest in Northumberland will have the biggest new wild area, covering at least 6,000 hectares. Here, Forestry England will restore a fully-functioning upland ecosystem by expanding native woodland and scrub and creating more open habitats including restoring peatland and natural water courses. Through pioneering integrated land management, we will create an innovative model of modern productive forestry. This will balance nature-first approaches alongside sustainable wood production, ensuring a truly resilient forest for a changing environment for generations to come.