Managing and maintaining woodlands: overview
Find information on woodland management in England, including funding to maintain your woodland, useful guidance, and regulations you need to follow.
Applies to England
Create a woodland management plan
The first step to managing your woodland sustainably is to establish what your objectives are. Do you want to focus on timber production, nature conservation or climate change adaptation? Perhaps you want to manage your woodland for all of these and more.
A woodland management plan gives land managers a structured way to plan and organise the sustainable management of woodland to a common industry standard.
You could be eligible for a grant to help you develop your plan.
Funding for woodland maintenance
There are a number of grants and incentives to support the maintenance of established woodlands and the creation of management plans.
Woodland Management Plan grant: Countryside Stewardship
The Woodland Management Plan grant is part of Countryside Stewardship. It is a capital grant for farmers and land managers to produce a woodland management plan that meets UK Forestry Standards. Find out more and apply for a Woodland Management Plan grant.
Woods into Management Forestry Innovation Funds
These funds aim to restore vulnerable woodland habitats and help woodlands adapt to a changing climate and recover from the impacts of pests and diseases. Find out more about Woods into Management funds.
Regulations for woodland management
If you own a woodland, you’ll have to follow the rules on:
- tree felling licences
- tree health, pest and disease control
- Environmental Impact Assessments for woodlands (EIA)
- woodland species and habitats protection
- importing and exporting wood and timber products
Useful guides for woodland management
Managing ancient and native woodland in England
Read about managing ancient and native woodland in England. This provides good practice guidance on woodland management and planning, including species conservation, for owners of ancient and native woodland.
Managing semi-natural woodland
includes information on the need for management, harvesting, weeding, tending and thinning, tree regeneration, grazing and pest control.
Managing woodlands in a climate emergency
Managing England’s woodlands in a climate emergency will help you plan, plant and manage your woodlands appropriately for both current, and future climates. The guide supports foresters, farmers and landowners to adapt their woodlands to the impacts of our changing climate.
Habitats and species protection
Diverse forests and woodlands contribute to the sustainability of the wider landscape. The conservation of biodiversity is therefore an essential part of sustainable forest management.
Learn how to benefit priority habitats and species biodiversity in your woodland, and find out about the value of ancient and native woodland, and when to remove trees to restore open habitats.
You must also plan how to manage threats to your woodland such as:
Managing people in woodlands
Woodlands provide space for recreation and improve people’s health and wellbeing. Access to woodlands can also give people a chance to learn about forests and woodland management, and recreation can provide opportunities for business diversification.
If you have legal rights of public access to your woodland, you must manage these appropriately. By maintaining paths, tracks, and signage, you can also help people to access your woodland in a way that supports other management objectives, such as habitat and species protection, and timber harvesting.
The Woodland Condition Assessment (WCA) app
You can download the Woodland Condition Assessment (WCA) app to get results on the ecological condition of your woodland. This will help you assess your woodland’s condition in a standardised way, and it incorporates new rules on Biodiversity Net Gain, and other legislation.
Learn more about the WCA app and WCA training courses.
Updates to this page
Published 2 December 2021Last updated 3 September 2024 + show all updates
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Removed section on Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier.
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Added a section on the Woodland Condition Assessment (WCA) app.
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Updated to include information on managing people in woodlands
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First published.