History of Community Forests

The Community Forest programme was established in 1990 by the then Countryside Commission as a pilot project to demonstrate the potential contribution of environmental improvement to economic and social regeneration.

The three initial pilots quickly grew to a national programme, which made use of broad-based partnerships to pioneer activity and deliver lasting change.

In today’s climate emergency, the Forests and their role in helping us mitigate and adapt to a changing world are more relevant than ever before.