16.5% of England’s Land Area as Woodland by 2050
Commitment: Increase woodland cover in England to 16.5% of total land area by 2050 (up from approximately 10% in 2020).
Owner: Defra / Forestry Commission England
Target date: 2050
Metric: % of England’s land area covered by woodland, as measured by Forestry Commission England / National Forest Inventory.
Status: active
Context
England is one of the least-wooded countries in Europe. The 16.5% target by 2050 would approximately double woodland cover from ~10% to ~16.5% — adding roughly 400,000 hectares of woodland to the English landscape.
The 2030 milestone (defra-woodland-43kha-2030) requires creating 43,000 hectares annually. Current delivery rates (2022-25: 13,442ha total, approximately 4,500ha/year) are substantially below this rate.
Dual purpose: biodiversity and carbon
Woodland serves both nature recovery and climate commitments:
- Biodiversity: Woodland habitat for birds, mammals, invertebrates; habitat connectivity; woodland creation contributes to 30by30 and habitat targets
- Carbon: UK woodland sequesters approximately 8.3 million tonnes CO₂ annually (valued at £2.3bn) — contributing to net zero 2050
Delivery trajectory
The 50-year trajectory requires:
- Near-term acceleration of planting (43,000ha/year by 2030)
- Protection and management of existing woodland
- Natural regeneration alongside active planting
Current delivery is running well behind the required pace for 2030, putting the 2050 trajectory at risk.
Connection to climate targets
Referenced in both:
- environmental-improvement-plan-2025 — biodiversity delivery
- climate-biodiversity-actions-2025 — joint climate-nature paper specifically identifies woodland as a priority co-benefit
Tensions
- Woodland creation on agricultural land competes with food production; the optimal mix is a contested policy question (see farming-land-use theme)