Provisional woodlands statistics released

Forest Research have today (Thursday 25 June) released provisional statistics for the year to March 2026 on UK woodland area; certified woodland area, areas of new planting and publicly funded restocking, and projects registered under the Woodland Carbon Code. 

View the provisional statistics

Key findings include:  

• the area of woodland in the UK at 31 March 2026 is estimated to be 3.30 million hectares. This represents 14% of the total land area in the UK, 20% in Scotland, 15% in Wales, 10% in England, and 9% in Northern Ireland.

• of the total UK woodland area, 861 thousand hectares is owned or managed by Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland, Natural Resources Wales or the Northern Ireland Forest Service.

• the total certified woodland area in the UK at 31 March 2026 is 1.42 million hectares, including all Forestry England/Forestry and Land Scotland/Welsh Government Woodland Estate/Northern Ireland Forest Service woodland. Overall, 43% of the UK woodland area is certified. 

• around 13 thousand hectares of newly created woodland were reported in the UK in 2025/26. 

• around 14 thousand hectares of publicly funded woodland restocking were reported in the UK in 2025/26. 

• woodland Carbon Code projects in the UK that were validated (including those that were also verified) at 31 March 2026 were predicted to sequester a total of 15.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetime of up to 100 years. This represents 12.8 million tonnes in Scotland, 2.1 million tonnes in England, 652 thousand tonnes in Wales, and 99 thousand tonnes in Northern Ireland. 

To read the full publication which includes a breakdown of the key findings please, visit Provisional Woodland Statistics. 

These provisional statistics will be superseded on 22 October 2026 with the publication of final and more detailed results in Forestry Statistics 2026.  

The UK Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as Accredited Official Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. For more information visit Accredited official statistics – Office for Statistics Regulation.