Guest Blog: Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest
Fully-funded and hassle-free tree and hedgerow planting for landowners by Cllr Carolyn Renwick, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Environment, Derbyshire County Council
There are scores of programmes intended to help landowners increase biodiversity or widen the income streams from their land by making it more naturally attractive.
The Derbyshire Heartwood Community Forest programme aims to plant hundreds of thousands of trees over the next three years. If you are within our area we can offer fully-funded support including design, planting trees and hedgerows, and providing up to 15 years’ of support for maintenance.
Funded by the 'England's Community Forests Trees for Climate Fund' as part of Defra’s Nature for Climate programme, Heartwood Community Forest joins an existing network of 15 Community Forests located in and around large towns and cities. It won’t be a single ‘forest’, but a collection of trees, woodlands and hedgerows across Derbyshire.
Community forests offer high-quality environments for millions of people by creating green spaces, boosting biodiversity and improving access to nature. These in turn boost people's health and wellbeing. They also provide urban and economic regeneration and will be a great legacy for generations to come.
Derbyshire is already famous for its natural environment because of the Peak District National Park. But around 80 per cent of our county’s population actually live on the eastern and southern fringes, which stretch from villages like Etwall and Repton in the south of the county, up through Derby city and towns like Ripley and Alfreton up to Chesterfield and Dronfield near the boundary with South Yorkshire. This is where Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest will be planted.
While some sites have already been identified, we’d be delighted to hear from CLA members in Derbyshire who have landholdings and rural business that would benefit from significant tree planting. So let me give you some details.
Where: You can see exactly where trees can be planted on our map.
What: Grants from Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest are completely bespoke and according to your needs. They can cover tree planting, hedgerows, fencing and gate installation, advice and support and ongoing maintenance to ensure your woodland thrives.
How: Sites should be between 0.5 and 5 hectares or more and all you need to do to kick the process off is get in touch with our team. You can find out full details about Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest on our website HERE. There’s a section about benefits for landowners and a link that allows you to make an application.
Why: This is a programme that can benefit you as a landowner or a business. Tree planting can increase biodiversity, reduce flooding, reduce soil and wind erosion and reduce pollution by absorbing pollutants. For a business, trees can absorb carbon – which can be sold as carbon credits or offset your carbon emissions – increase Biodiversity Net Gain, contribute to countryside pursuits, glamping or outdoor activities, and attract tax benefits.
We believe Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest is a great way for landowner and rural businesses to play their part in a long-lasting improvement to the environment. And we’ve designed it to be as hassle-free as possible for you.
If you’d like to know more, get in touch via our website.