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 D3: Area of woodland in England, 1998 to 2024

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

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