The Tree Ring Community Forest, a CPRE London project, will deliver a continuous ring of woodland around the capital – a kind of M25 for nature.

This exciting project will help ensure that London’s Green belt plays a more powerful role in carbon capture. It will strengthen biodiversity, and improving the wellbeing of Londoners.

The continuous ring of trees will bridge Green Belt gaps in outer London, creating corridors for wildlife.

In places less suitable for traditional native woodland, they will consider new urban orchards, more hedgerows, street trees, and tree planted field margins. This means the ring of trees remains unbroken and wildlife can move between wooded areas.

They hope to secure funding for The Tree Ring Community Forest from DEFRA and have technical support from The Woodland Trust and TCV.

CPRE London is now ground mapping potential woodland creation sites. For this they need reliable information on existing young woodland in the Green Belt and also more widely across London. This will tell them where planting can join this up to established woodland habitat. Mature woodland is likely to be on the map already – but CPRE London needs to capture details of younger woodland (planted within the last 20 years) and newly planted saplings.

You can help by registering possible locations for new woodland creation, or the location of existing young woodlands here Tree and Woodland Data Collection (arcgis.com)

If you have any other queries or suggestions related to the proposed Tree Ring Community Forest contact us on woodlandcreation@cprelondon.org.uk

To support our greening the green belt appeal and help protect London’s countryside and create woodland playgrounds for our children and grandchildren please click here.