Space for people: targeting action for woodland access

摘要

Space for People sets out the Woodland Irust s strategy tor access to woodland m the UK. By developing a strategy for accessible woodland near to where people live, in both urban and rural areas, we believe society will enjoy many of the other benefits that woodland offers, including landscape enhancement, improvement of health, filtration of air pollution, soil stabilisation and flood alleviation. The first step was to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the extent of accessible woodland across the UK. This was necessary before any consideration could be given to the need for more accessible woodland. A Woodland Access Standard was developed, based on wide-ranging surveys of public use and opinion of woodland. This paper presents the extent of permissively accessible woodland in the UK, the Woodland Access Standard, and finally establishes targets across the UK for opening up existing woods for public access and creating new woods where insufficient woodland currently exists. It is the first time such an exercise has been undertaken at a UK level and, while the targets may seem challenging, they represent the result of detailed analysis.