Forest regeneration scheme has created area smaller than Regent’s Park

Just 192 hectares of ‘natural colonisation’ have been established in England under woodland creation offer

A government scheme to support the natural regeneration of trees has in two years created an area of new woodland smaller than Regent’s Park in London.

Just 192 hectares (474 acres) of “natural colonisation” have been established in England through the woodland creation offer, a financial support package launched by the government in May 2021 after natural regeneration was hailed as one of the cheapest, efficient and most wildlife-friendly ways of increasing tree cover and capturing carbon.