York Community Woodland
In 2022, the council entered into a ‘Woodland Partnership’ with Forestry England to create York Community Woodland on 78 hectares of council owned land to the west of the city. Since 2022, around 250,000 trees and shrubs have been planted and new tracks and trails created.
The new woodland will include new cycle and horse routes, wooded areas, ponds and wildflower meadows. It is to be open to the public from August 2024 and more about where the woodland is and how to get there can be found on the Forestry England website.
Forestry England will manage the wood through a leasehold agreement with City of York Council.
In July 2023, York Community Woodland won the prestigious John Boddy Award for Forestry, celebrating the woodland’s excellence is forestry creation, design, and management.
Later in 2023, York Community Woodland also received the prestigious silver Community Woodland Award for Excellence in Forestry 2023 from the Royal Forestry Society (RFS).