| The Woodland Trust | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1972 |
| Legal status | Non-profit company and registered charity |
| Purpose/focus | Woodland in the UK |
| Location | Kempton Way, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 6LL |
| Region served | UK |
| Membership | Woodland enthusiasts and conservationists |
| Chief Executive | Sue Holden |
| Main organ | Board of Trustees |
| Website | www.woodlandtrust.org.uk |
The Woodland Trust is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom concerned with the protection and sympathetic management of native woodland heritage.
Contents |
It was founded in Devon, England in 1972 by retired farmer Kenneth Watkins OBE (6 December 1909 - 13 November 1996). By 1977 it had twenty two woods in six counties. In 1978 it announced that it would be a UK-wide charity, and moved to Grantham in Lincolnshire. It has supported the National Tree Week scheme, which is in late November and ran by The Tree Council.
From 2005-8 it co-operated with the BBC for their Springwatch programme and the BBC's Breathing Places[1] series of events held at woods.
Nations
Its first employee and Director, John James, came from Lincolnshire and was living in Nottingham at the time. It had a small office on Westgate. John James was Chief Executive from 1992-7, and then Michael Townsend from 1997-2004.
A new eco-friendly headquarters is to be built adjacent to the current headquarters and will open in 2010.[2][3] The new headquarters have been designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.
It is now based at Kempton Way on Dysart Road in Grantham in South Kesteven, south Lincolnshire, moving there in 2010. It employs around 300 people at its Grantham headquarters. Since 2005, the Chief Executive has been Cambridge-educated Sue Holden. Its current president is Clive Anderson since 2003.
It relies on donations and bequests.
The Woodland Trust uses its experience and authority in conservation to influence others who are in a position to improve the future of native woodland. This includes government, other landowners and like-minded organisations. It also campaigns to protect and save ancient woodland from destructive development. Its projects also include the Nature Detectives youth programme, a project for schools learning about the seasonal effect on woodlands - phenology - and the Ancient Tree Hunt campaign.
It publishes books.
It looks after more than 1,100 woods [4] and groups of woods covering 190 square kilometres (73 sq mi). Nearly 350 of its sites contain ancient woodland of which 70 per cent is semi-natural ancient woodland – land which has been under tree cover since at least 1600. It also manages over 110 Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
It has also created new woodlands: over 32 km2 (12 sq mi) have been created, including 250 new community woods in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its largest current projects include the 41.7 km2 (16.1 sq mi) Glen Finglas Estate in the Trossachs, Scotland and the Heartwood Forest near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, which will cover approximately 347 ha (860 acres). It owns 20 sites covering 4.3 km2 (1.7 sq mi) in the National Forest and has twelve sites in Community Forests in England.
Woods it owns and looks after include: