Woodland

Bluebells at Warburton's Wood

Bluebells at Warburton's Wood

Woodland

Cheshire is one of the least wooded counties

Less than 5% of Cheshire has tree cover.  

Our woodlands range in age from long-standing forests through which our ancestors hunted to modern-day plantations which provide materials for building and paper.  Delamere Forest and Macclesfield Forest are some of Cheshire’s more well-known wooded areas that can be visited. Important areas of woodland can be characterised by different trees: deciduous woodland, wet woodland, upland oak woodland and veteran trees. 

By 2030, Cheshire Wildlife Trust will work to increase our tree cover across the County by working with partners and landowners to plant trees and create new woodlands contributing to the overall Northern Forest area. 

Why are woodlands important?

Our woodlands come alive at dawn – tawny owls hoot to each other, and wrens, blackcaps and warblers fill the air with song. Great spotted woodpeckers, treecreepers and jays visit broad leaved and mixed woods, while goldcrests and rare crossbills flit between the trees of conifer forests.

During the day, small herds of roe and fallow deer roam between the tree trunks of our mixed woods, red squirrels bustle around the treetops in pine woods and butterflies alight on flowers at the forest floor. As night descends, mammals like foxes, bats, badgers and dormice come out to forage and hunt.

In woodlands, dead and rotting wood is important for fungi and insects like the impressively horned stag beetle. But it’s the flowers that our forests are really famous for. Carpets of bluebells herald the spring, hoards of white ramsons fill the air with the exciting scent of garlic and pretty wood anemones line the paths.

Tree planting

Tree planting is an important tool to help mitigate the impacts of climate change and where tree planting is undertaken sensitively it can also provide important wildlife habitat. Ecologically functional woodlands are complex ecosystems that have evolved over long periods of time, and they are difficult, but not impossible, to replicate. Creating the conditions for wildlife to thrive requires careful planning and long-term habitat management. 

To enable us to achieve our ambitious 30 by 30 target to create 300ha of new woodland across the county we need your help.  

  • If you or a group are looking to plant trees, please read our guidance.
  • If you are an individual who would like to support our tree planting programme, please keep an eye on our volunteering opportunities across the county to help us plant new woodlands.
  • If you have land available for trees and are looking at opportunities for your farm or small holding, we can help support you by accessing funding available to plant trees and create new high-quality woodlands.

Trees for Climate

We are working with The Mersey Forest and The City of Trees to access funding through the Nature for Climate Defra fund.  

Trees for Climate is the national tree planting programme, part of the Government's £500m Nature for Climate Fund, that is aiming to at least treble planting rates in England by the end of this Parliament (2024). 

As delivery partners Cheshire Wildlife Trust will work with you as landowners to design your schemes, carry out all the regulatory process to get permission to plant trees, plant your new woodland and thereafter pay you a maintenance payment to cover any costs you may incur in ensuring your woodland flourishes.  

Any landowners with land suitable for tree planting should contact Cheshire Wildlife Trust's woodland team

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Our reserves

Wood anemone at Warburton's Wood c. Claire Huxley

Wood anemone at Warburton's Wood c. Claire Huxley

Our Reserve

Warburton's Wood

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Intake Wood c. Amy Lewis

Intake Wood c. Amy Lewis

Our reserve

Dibbinsdale woodland

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Owley Wood wood anemones c. Claire Huxley

Owley Wood wood anemones c. Claire Huxley

Our Reserve

Owley Wood

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Our wildlife

Willow Tit c. Harry Hogg

Willow Tit c. Harry Hogg

Willow Tit

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Bluebells at Owley Wood c. Victoria Kirby

Bluebells at Owley Wood c. Victoria Kirby

Bluebells

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Nathusius pipistrelle c. Terry Whittaker/2020VISION

Nathusius pipistrelle c. Terry Whittaker/2020VISION

Nathusius' pipistrelles

A rare bat in the UK, which is smaller than then the common pipistrelle.