Forestry Statistics 2012 - Recreation

The Woods for People project has created a UK-wide provisional inventory of accessible woodland.

At present, it does not include woodlands where the only access is on public rights of way. For Scotland, the Land Reform Act gives a right of responsible access to almost all land, but the dataset only includes woods that encourage access. Table 6.13 shows the proportions of woodland with public access (permissive) as identified by the Woods for People database.

The changes between versions of the dataset (2004 to 2011) are the result of several factors, including the development of the database between versions as areas are updated by land owners; one significant change was a reduction in England and Wales as a result of a fall in the amount of Walkers Welcome data. More recently, the exclusion of areas where access is constrained in England has led to a decrease in accessible woodland in 2011. Further information on the project is available at www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/about-us/projects/woods-for-people/Pages/improve-access.aspx

Around one half (48%) of the UK woodland area was identified as being publicly accessible in 2011 (Table 6.13).

Source: Woods for People (Woodland Trust)

Notes:

1. The total woodland area estimated in 2004 for the Woods for People project, not updated for later reports. For Northern Ireland, this is substantially different from the area shown elsewhere in Forestry Statistics.

2. The 2004 data are from version 1 of the Woods for People project, re-analysed in September 2007 to count only woodland areas. The higher results originally presented in the 2004 Woodland Trust Spaces for People report were based in part on total land areas, rather than woodland areas. 

3. Data for 2006 to 2011 are from versions 3 to 8 of the Woods for People dataset, based on woodland areas.

These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics