D3: Area of woodland in England

Short Description

This indicator shows change in the area of broadleaved and conifer woodland in England. Woodland, as defined for the National Forest Inventory (NFI), is land under stands of trees with a minimum area of 0.5 hectares, a width of at least 20 metres, and a canopy cover of at least 20% or having the potential to achieve this. To be considered a tree, a plant must have at least one woody stem and be expected to achieve a height of at least 5 metres. The definition of woodland relates to land use, rather than land cover, so integral open space and areas of felled trees that are awaiting restocking (replanting) are included as woodland. Woodland is a key natural capital asset that provides many natural capital benefits, such as the provision of timber and other wood products, carbon storage, improvement of the water environment, habitats for wildlife, and opportunities for exercise and recreation.

Readiness and links to data

Data on the area of woodland are published annually in Forest Research’s Forestry Statistics along with information on the data sources and methodology. Additional commentary on recent trends and new planting of woodland and trees in England is provided in the Forestry Commission’s Key Performance Indicators.

Indicator components

Figure Table

Figure D3: Area of woodland in England, 1998 to 2024

Source

Forest Research, Woodland area by forest type and ownership, England, 1998 to 2024

Unit of Measurement

Million hectares

Footnotes

Annual datapoints reflect the area of conifer and broadleaf woodland in England at 31 March each year.

Due to rounding, areas of conifer and broadleaf woodland shown here may not sum exactly to the total area of woodland in England shown in this indicator and in the source publication (Forest Research’s Forestry Statistics).

Data for 2021 to 2023 were revised in the 2025 update of this indicator. The total area of woodland reported has marginally increased for the 2022 and 2023 data points, mainly driven by a marginal increase in areas of broadleaf woodland.

There is a general assumption that woodlands that have been clearfelled will be restocked. These areas are classified as ‘woodlands in transition’ until there is evidence (through satellite imagery or aerial photography) that the areas have been replanted, have regenerated, or lost to another land use. As natural regeneration can take some time to establish, some areas can remain as woodlands in transition for more than 10 years and there can be considerable time lags between the felling of woodland to create open habitats and the designation of that area as non-woodland. It is likely this leads to some overestimation of the area of conifer woodland.

The area of woodland statistics are based on annual updates to both the NFI woodland map based on remote sensing and also administrative data on new planting of woodland. The split between conifer and broadleaf in the woodland map data is based on more accurate assessments of stocked areas from fieldwork data.

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Table D3: Area of woodland in England, 1998 to 2024

Year	Broadleaves	Conifers	Total
1998	0.89	0.35	1.24
1999	0.89	0.35	1.25
2000	0.90	0.35	1.25
2001	0.90	0.35	1.26
2002	0.91	0.35	1.26
2003	0.91	0.35	1.27
2004	0.92	0.35	1.27
2005	0.92	0.35	1.28
2006	0.93	0.36	1.28
2007	0.93	0.36	1.28
2008	0.93	0.35	1.28
2009	0.93	0.35	1.29
2010	0.93	0.36	1.29
2011	0.94	0.36	1.29
2012	0.96	0.34	1.30
2013	0.96	0.34	1.30
2014	0.96	0.34	1.30
2015	0.97	0.34	1.31
2016	0.97	0.34	1.31
2017	0.97	0.34	1.31
2018	0.97	0.34	1.31
2019	0.97	0.34	1.32
2020	0.98	0.34	1.32
2021	1.02	0.30	1.32
2022	1.03	0.30	1.33
2023	1.03	0.30	1.33
2024	1.03	0.30	1.34

Source

Forest Research, Woodland area by forest type and ownership, England, 1998 to 2024

Unit of Measurement

Million hectares

Footnotes

Annual datapoints reflect the area of conifer and broadleaf woodland in England at 31 March each year.

Due to rounding, areas of conifer and broadleaf woodland shown here may not sum exactly to the total area of woodland in England shown in this indicator and in the source publication (Forest Research’s Forestry Statistics).

Data for 2021 to 2023 were revised in the 2025 update of this indicator. The total area of woodland reported has marginally increased for the 2022 and 2023 data points, mainly driven by a marginal increase in areas of broadleaf woodland.

There is a general assumption that woodlands that have been clearfelled will be restocked. These areas are classified as ‘woodlands in transition’ until there is evidence (through satellite imagery or aerial photography) that the areas have been replanted, have regenerated, or lost to another land use. As natural regeneration can take some time to establish, some areas can remain as woodlands in transition for more than 10 years and there can be considerable time lags between the felling of woodland to create open habitats and the designation of that area as non-woodland. It is likely this leads to some overestimation of the area of conifer woodland.

The area of woodland statistics are based on annual updates to both the NFI woodland map based on remote sensing and also administrative data on new planting of woodland. The split between conifer and broadleaf in the woodland map data is based on more accurate assessments of stocked areas from fieldwork data.

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Trend description for D3

The total area of woodland in England has increased from 1.24 million hectares in 1998 to 1.34 million hectares in 2024, equating to an increase from 9.5% to 10.3% of total land area of England (total land area of England derived from the ONS Standard Area Measurements for Administrative Areas). This growth has been driven by an increase in area of broadleaf woodland since the start of the time series, despite the area of conifer woodland having gradually decreased over the same period. The two apparent step changes in the area of conifer woodland (2011-12 and 2020-21) reflect updates to stocked area by species estimates from the National Forest Inventory field surveys, that are then used to estimate the conifer/broadleaf for the total woodland area, rather than losses of conifer woodland in those specific years.

Assessment of change

The observed increases in the area of woodland in England over the short and medium term are assessed as ‘little or no change’. This is because it would take a large area of additional woodland cover to reach the 3% increase needed for the ‘improvement’ category to be assigned. There has, however, been an increase (improvement) over the long term. This assessment does not consider whether any improvement is on a sufficient scale for meeting targets.

Change since 2018 has also been assessed. There has been ‘little or no change’ in woodland cover since 2018.

Further information on this assessment, along with details on the methodology, is provided in the Assessment background page. Summaries by 25 Year Environment Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Table D3: Assessment of change

Component	Subcomponent	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
D3	Total woodland	Short term	2019 to 2024	1.67	Unsmoothed	Little or no change
D3	Total woodland	Medium term	2014 to 2024	2.76	Unsmoothed	Little or no change
D3	Total woodland	Long term	1998 to 2024	7.80	Unsmoothed	Improvement

Note that percentage change in Table D3 refers to the difference seen from the first to last year in the specified date range.

Indicator Metadata

Headline indicator status

Not applicable

Primary goal in the 25 Year Environment Plan

Thriving plants and wildlife

Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment

Relevant goal(s) in the 25 Year Environment Plan

Thriving plants and wildlife

Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment

Using resources from nature more sustainably and efficiently

Relevant target(s) in the 25 Year Environment Plan

Creating or restoring 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside the protected site network, focusing on priority habitats as part of a wider set of land management changes providing extensive benefits

Increasing woodland in England in line with our aspiration of 12% cover by 2060: this would involve planting 180,000 hectares by end of 2042 [now superseded by the Environment Act target to increase tree canopy and woodland cover to at least 16.5% of land area in England by 2050].

Position in the natural capital framework

Condition of assets - land

Condition of assets - species and ecological communities

Related reporting commitments

Equivalent data at UK level are reported to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation for its regular Forest Resources Assessment, and to Forest Europe for publication in the State of Europe’s Forests

Geographical Scope

England

Status of indicator development

Final

First Reported

2019

Last Updated

2025

Latest Data

2024