How will the plan be used?

The Forest Plan will help guide action, attract resources and strengthen collaboration across the North East.  

The North East Community Forest Team and Partners will use the Plan to:  

Facilitate Partnership Working: Encourage collaboration between organisations, communities, and local authorities to deliver the shared vision and objectives for trees, woodlands and hedgerows.

Develop Projects and Unlock Funding: Help design local projects, support funding bids, and attract investment for tree planting and woodland management.

Guide Tree Planting and Care: Provide guidance on the where and how to plant and care for trees, ensuring they thrive for the long-term.

Align With Wider Strategies: Influence the policies and priorities of partner organisations to ensure they align with the Plan’s aims and ensure tree and woodland actions contribute to delivering the broader goals in their local strategies and plans, these will include Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Green Infrastructure, Climate Action and Economic Plans. 

Inform Local Planning Decisions: Contribute to place making, ensuring trees are considered in new development, regeneration and restructuring to improve the natural environment. National Planning Policy recognises the importance of Community Forests, and the Forest Plan is a material consideration in preparing development plans and in deciding planning applications. 

Improve Communication and Engagement: Promote the benefits of trees, woodlands and hedgerows, celebrate success and build public and stakeholder support.

Everyone has a role to play: We will work closely with a wide range of people and organisations to deliver the Plan and support the efforts that will make it possible.

Partnership working

Local Communities

  • We will work alongside people to help them to achieve what is needed in their local communities for different reasons. Creating opportunities for communities to contribute and lead, and for mutual learning. 

  • We will seek to provide a range of opportunities, routes, and support for people to get involved. These will need to reflect the needs and different modes of engagement of the various communities we work with, considering differing life stages, motivations and interests, time availability, language, financial resources, etc.  

  • We will involve and learn from local communities and groups, including tree and woodland and “friends of” groups, as well as reaching out to people whose voice is seldom heard. This includes young and old people, diverse ethnicities and faiths, and intersections of these communities 

  • Will ensure opportunities for involvement and empowerment of communities in the co-creation, lead in the design, establishment and stewardship of trees and woods.  

Schools and Colleges

  • We will support schools to establish and care for the trees, woods, and hedgerows in their grounds. Even small spaces provide crucial opportunities for play and outdoor learning. 

  • We seek to embed trees, woods, and hedgerows into school culture; both in the curriculum and throughout school life, through spontaneous play and outdoor lessons. Schools also provide an opportunity to grow this culture in their wider communities.  

Farmers, Landowners and Land Managers

  • We advise and support farmers, public and private landowners and land managers to support our visions and objectives by using their land to establish trees and woods and manage existing trees, woods and hedgerows look after on their land. 

  • We recognise that different landowners and managers have different needs and requirements from schemes, and we work alongside them to ensure that these are met. 

  • We work with farmers to support food security and to help them to incorporate trees into farms and improve their management for the many benefits they can bring. This includes the potential for income diversification, sustaining healthy soils and livestock, and climate and flood resilience, alongside increased carbon storage and more abundant wildlife. Approaches are tailored for individual farms, and can include hedgerows and hedgerow trees, tree establishment on marginal or lower quality land, and agroforestry.      

Businesses and the Private Sector

  • We will encourage businesses to support our vision and objectives as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments. By identifying land opportunities for tree planting and integrate a culture of trees, woods throughout their workplace environments. 
  • We will support businesses in the involvement involved in various means, including through private green finance, employee volunteering days, pro bono contributions, and other collaborative mechanisms. 

Universities

  • We will collaborate with universities to share data and explore opportunities for joint research projects. This will enable us to continuously innovate, learn, test, and refine our approaches to tree establishment and management and foster a culture of trees, woods and habitats. 
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