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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.