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New woodland at Harrogate's Army Foundation College adds to White Rose Forest
The White Rose Forest is celebrating the end of a successful 2025-26 planting season, which included the creation of a new woodland at the Army Foundation College Harrogate.
The 18-hectare site – one of 92 supported by the White Rose Forest over the year – will boost biodiversity and the training environment for junior soldiers.
The White Rose Forest is the community forest partnership for North and West Yorkshire, and works to create woodlands across the region, with a view to improving air-quality, creating or recreating wildlife habitats, reducing flood risk and supporting education.
Since 2020 the White Rose Forest has planted more than three million trees in Yorkshire.
Another of the year's project was at the Bolton Abbey Estate in Wharfedale. Photo: Bolton Abbey Estate.
The partnership’s long-term vision is to create a more prosperous Yorkshire that is resilient to the changing climate, improves community health and wellbeing, and supports nature recovery.
Over the last year, the White Rose Forest has planted 450,800 trees and 17,816 metres of hedgerows planted, and created 2.7 kilometres of new footpaths – all with the help of nearly 10,000 volunteers.
Other projects the White Rose Forest has supported through its government-funded Trees for Climate programme over the last year included: the planting of 80,000 trees over 90 hectares of the Bolton Abbey Estate to improve water-quality and run-off into the River Wharfe; a new woodland at Top O’ Th’ Hill near Todmorden; and new planting in the town centres of Dewsbury and Hebden Bridge.
It has also rounded off a major, multi-year programme based at Snaizeholme near Hawes, that has seen the planting of 290 hectares of trees to restore native woodland, reconnect habitats and improve natural flood management at the top of the Swale, Ure, Nidd and Ouse (SUNO) catchment.
The Snaizeholme project, near Hawes in Wensleydale.
Iwan Downey, White Rose Forest programme director, said:
This year represents a major milestone for the White Rose Forest and our partners, not only in terms of scale but in the diversity of outcomes we are delivering – from large-scale landscape recovery at Snaizeholme to tree-planting in the heart of our communities.
These achievements demonstrate the direction we’ve set in our new 25-year strategic plan: creating a resilient, connected landscape that benefits climate, nature and people. Through continued partnership working and funded programmes like Trees for Climate, we are building momentum to deliver even greater impact across North and West Yorkshire in the years ahead.
Landowners in North and West Yorkshire can contact the White Rose Forest team for funding and support to deliver a wide variety of woodland creation projects.
Trees for Climate funding, available through the White Rose Forest, will cover up to 100% of project and establishment costs.
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