Bristol-based charity Avon Needs Trees are appealing for help to find their next piece of land to plant a new woodland and are calling for landowners who would like to sell land or partner with ANT to get in touch.

This planting season, building on the success of their two woodland sites in Wiltshire, ANT introduced two new projects, one a few miles south of Bristol and another in the heart of Somerset, near Shepton Mallet. The charity is looking for its next piece of land around Somerset and wants to involve the community in finding and planting the site.

Since their inception in 2019, ANT have been working to acquire land to permanently reforest and rewild in the Bristol-Avon river catchment area to help tackle the climate and ecological emergency.

By creating new permanent woodlands, they aim to lock-up carbon, improve local biodiversity, provide natural flood management, and publicly accessible green space where appropriate. So far they have purchased two sites in Wiltshire and one site just south of Bristol. This year saw the charity's first ever Land Partnership, the first of its kind as far as they know in the UK. Since 2019, the charity has planted over 35,000 native trees with the help of members of the local and surrounding communities, and are now on a mission to find their next site.

ANT's Director Dave Wood said "It is an exciting time of growth for our charity. This year, we created two new woodlands in Somerset in addition to our two existing woodlands in Wiltshire. Responding to the climate and ecological emergency requires buy-in from communities, which is why we believe so strongly in our model where local volunteers are at the heart of our mission of planting the right tree in the right place. We are looking ahead now, searching for the next opportunity to create native, biodiverse, resilient woodland. If you are a landowner and interested in working with us, please do get in touch!".

This year for the first time, ANT partnered with land-owners to create permanent woodland in Somerset. Landowner Bob Francis-Mann said "Reforesting a space requires a huge amount of energy. For us, we wanted to give this land back to nature but we didn't have the knowledge, time or experience needed. Partnering with ANT put the project into gear and moved things along smoothly and efficiently. We've really enjoyed partnering with ANT and working with all the different people involved… assuring, professional and great people. Would definitely recommend it!'

Almost all of the woodland in the Avon area has disappeared over the last few centuries, with woodland cover in the West of England at an average of only 8%, compared with 10% across England, and the minimum of 19% required across the UK to reach net zero targets. This is disastrous for many reasons – a loss of natural carbon storage; reduced habitat for many key, endangered species; and fewer trees and shrubs to stop and slow water entering the river system when there is heavy rain, particularly as all of the towns and cities in the area are greatly at risk of flooding. 

If you would like to get in touch with Avon Needs Trees about selling land or partnering with them, please contact the charity's Land Search & Partnership Coordinator at [email protected] . Alternatively, please join us at our Landowners Drop In event on Sunday 2nd July at Pensford Village Hall between 2-4pm. More details on the Avon Needs Trees website. 

Photo credit for all photos: Daisy Brasington