At its meeting on Wednesday the 30th of April, the Eryri National Park Authority adopted its first ever Tree and Woodland Strategy. It is the result of nearly two years of co-designing with partners, the public and land owners and managers to expand, protect and restore the National Park’s wooded landscape.

Our wooded landscapes have a key role to play in our response to the climate emergency and our nature recovery efforts. As well as acting as carbon stores, improving air quality and mitigating the effects of heavy rainfall, trees provide a safe habitat and food source for a variety of wildlife. As they form ecosystems that play a critical role in carbon sequestration, we have co-designed a 100-year strategy that outlines how we will protect and develop them based on three core principles including safeguarding existing trees, managing our woodlands better, and connecting and expanding our woodlands.

For almost two years the Eryri National Park Authority has been co-designing the Eryri Tree and Woodland Strategy with the support of Coed Cadw. During the development phase, the public and land owners and managers were consulted to ensure an ambitious but deliverable strategy that offered flexibility to take action in a way that didn’t compromise productive land.

Work on compiling a Supplementary Action Plan to steer the efforts to realise the vision is currently underway. It will be a periodic action plan, setting out the actions gathered during a public consultation that took place in the New Year. During the consultation partners outlined how they could contribute to the implementation of the strategy over the coming five years.

Rhys Owen the Eryri National Park Authority’s Head of Conservation, Woodland and Agriculture said:

“We’re immensely proud of this strategy, more so given that so many have been on the journey with us from start to finish. The co-operation of land owners and managers has been key in its development, and through discussions and consultation, and co-developing an action plan it will be a strategy that they can take ownership of, and as such, viable and achievable.

As well as the benefits to the environment, trees and woodlands are valuable assets that contribute to health and wellbeing through recreational, educational and community use. Thanks to this strategy, we can be confident that future generations will continue to benefit from what trees and woodlands have to offer”.

The aim is to complete and formally adopt the Supplementary Action Plan for the next five years by the end of May 2025. A copy of the Eryri Tree and Woodland Strategy 2025-2125 is available on the Park Authority website .

Ends

 

Notes to Editors:

  1. In 2024 a range of public consultation opportunities were held which inputted into the development of the draft Tree and Woodland Strategy. Consultations included online questionnaires, public engagement at shows and events, and presentations to local forums e.g. Local Access Forums and Fforwm Eryri. A subsequent consultation period followed early in 2025 to compile actions for the Supplementary Action Plan.

 

  1. The strategy was co-designed in partnership with Coed Cadw (Woodland Trust in Wales) thanks to funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery. Over the last 15 years the Woodland Trust has received £25 million in funds, thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, to help create, protect, and restore native woodlands across the UK. This Tree and Woodland Strategy, which guides people in achieving these goals, was made possible through these funds.

 

  1. To ensure that the strategy presented an accurate representation of the situation in Eryri and based on facts, Terra Sulis Research CIC was commissioned to undertake thorough research into the available data on the present state of Eryri’s trees and woodlands. The findings are available in a report on the ENPA’s website.

 

  1. A copy of the adopted strategy can be found on the ENPA website here. The Supplementary Action Plan will be adopted by the end of May 2025, a copy of which will also be available on the website.

 

  1. For more information contact Ioan Gwilym, Head of Communications on ioan.gwilym@eryri.llyw.cymru or 01766 770 274