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Delivering the Midlands Forest Network’s vision requires informed decision-making across a large and complex landscape. To ensure that tree planting, woodland creation, and woodland management are targeted where they can deliver the greatest possible benefits for nature, people, and the economy, we used an evidence-led approach known as systematic conservation planning (SCP).
Systematic conservation planning is a well-established approach used across the world for conservation planning. It helps identify where action can most effectively deliver agreed outcomes, by combining ecological evidence with social and economic data. This approach supports decision-making guided by four principles known as “CARE”:
For the Midlands Forest Network, SCP provided a structured way to combine data from across the region with stakeholder input to prioritise areas and support our long-term vision. It allowed us to look across the whole Midlands, understand where existing woodland activity is taking place, and identify where new planting, restoration, and protection will deliver the strongest combined benefits to people, nature and the local economy. The SCP process follows three main stages:
This project has focused on the first two stages to inform the long-term delivery, or implementation, phase.
Early in the project, partners agreed a “hub and spoke” model as a clear and practical way to envision the Midlands Forest Network (MFN).
• Hubs (green) are areas where woodland creation or conservation activity is already in place, from community forests to landscape initiatives like the National Forest.
• Spokes (purple) are the corridors that could link these hubs, helping to create a connected, resilient woodland network across the region.
Using the evidence gathered and discussions with partners, we identified these hubs and structured the spatial prioritisation stage of the SCP process around them. Specialist spatial prioritisation software (Prioritizr) was used to identify priority areas for woodland creation or management, while connectivity modelling (least-cost path analysis) helped us identify the most feasible routes for linking hubs by creating new areas of woodland, hedgerows, or trees.
The analysis brought together environmental, social, and economic priorities into a single framework. This included:
• Existing woodland and conserved areas where improved management or expansion could deliver greater benefits
• Other priority habitats where woodland creation is not appropriate
• Areas where trees can most effectively provide ecosystem services, such as reducing flood risk, improving water quality, and storing carbon
• Land-use sensitivity and feasibility, to ensure proposals are realistic and deliverable considering current uses
• The Tree Equity Score, highlighting urban neighbourhoods with low tree cover and high levels of deprivation, where trees can deliver the greatest health and wellbeing benefits
This allowed the MFN to identify priority areas that are not only ecologically valuable and suitable, but could also help support social equitability and economic opportunities.
The below maps on this page shows the highest priority areas identified through the SCP analysis. These areas represent the core locations where the MFN vision can be most efficiently met. Together, they highlight where action on woodland management and creation will connect exiting woodlands and deliver the greatest combined benefits for nature, people, and the economy across the Midlands.
This shows the highest priority areas identified through the SCP analysis. These areas represent the core locations where the MFN vision can be most efficiently met. Together, they highlight where action on woodland management and creation will connect exiting woodlands and deliver the greatest combined benefits for nature, people, and the economy across the Midlands.
These are areas where woods are already present but targeted action can provide additional benefits. These include opportunities to restore and expand existing habitats and strengthen ecological value within established woodland landscapes. Many of these areas fall within, or are adjacent to, existing hubs of woodland activity, reinforcing the importance of protecting and enhancing what is already in place and working with key partners and stakeholders across the region.
These are areas where woods are already present but targeted action can provide additional benefits. These include opportunities to restore and expand existing habitats and strengthen ecological value within established woodland landscapes. Many of these areas fall within, or are adjacent to, existing hubs of woodland activity, reinforcing the importance of protecting and enhancing what is already in place and working with key partners and stakeholders across the region.
These areas represent locations where habitat restoration or creation would deliver the most significant improvements to water quality. The prioritisation is informed by detailed spatial targeting carried out as part of the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) Additional Contributions. This analysis identifies places where interventions - such as establishing new woodland, enhancing riparian corridors, or improving land management practices - are likely to have the greatest positive impact on reducing pollution, filtering runoff, and supporting healthier freshwater ecosystems.
These areas identify where opportunities for woodland creation overlap with communities experiencing high levels of social deprivation. Using the government’s Index of Multiple Deprivation, they highlight locations where new woodland is likely to provide the greatest social benefits. Creating woodland in these places can offer accessible green space, support health and wellbeing, improve local environmental quality, and provide valuable recreational and community opportunities for people who may have limited access to nature.
The approach taken in our systematic conservation planning mapping prioritises restoring and connecting existing woodlands. Since the opportunity for large-scale woodland creation in urban spaces is limited, the priority spokes mainly run through rural and semi-rural areas.
However, urban trees are vital for bringing the varied benefits of trees to where people live and work. We have therefore used the Woodland Trust's work on the Tree Equity Score to identify priority areas for urban tree planting.
These areas represent neighbourhoods identified as the highest priority for urban tree planting by Tree Equity Score UK. This prioritisation draws on six key indicators—air quality, age, employment, health, income, and heat severity—to assess where increased tree cover would provide the greatest social and environmental benefits. By highlighting communities most affected by pollution, vulnerability, and limited green space, the Tree Equity Score can help guide tree planting efforts to where they are needed most.
The mapped priorities do not represent fixed boundaries or prescriptive land-use decisions. Instead, they provide clear, evidence-based guidance to help partners, local communities, and investors:
As the MFN moves into implementation, these priority areas will be linked to practical woodland actions and investment opportunities, supporting coordinated delivery of a thriving, connected woodland network across the region.
This work was produced by the National Forest Company and the Woodland Trust based on analysis undertaken by the Durrell Institute of Conservation Ecology. Funding was provided by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks for National Lottery players.
The National Forest Company Charity number is 1166563. The Woodland Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 294344)
All maps: Contains Ordanance Survey Data © Crown copyright and database right 2024
