Our Shared Forest is a project to reshape and redirect Forestry England's sustainable management of Savernake Forest.

The world, our climate, and our society are changing. They always have. But the pace of change is speeding up, and the impacts on our Forest over the next generation of trees and people will be profound. Together, we have the opportunity to think about what we want the Forest to look like and feel like in 100 years’ time.

Watch our short video to find out what Our Shared Forest is all about.

A vision for Savernake Forest

Our vision for Savernake Forest is to nurture a shared forest unlike any other:

100 years from now, the woodlands of Savernake Forest will be a vibrant blend of ancient veteran trees and their younger successors. The woodland landscape and its associated ecology will have evolved successfully with our changing climate. The Forest will be accessible to people and thriving in a society where biodiversity, the historic environment, and access to the outdoors for fresh air and exercise is highly valued.

This vision will be supported by six pillars of sustainable forest management:

• trees and woodlands
• wildlife and wild spaces
• geology and soils
• water
• cultural and built heritage
• community and recreation

Our Shared Forest land management plan

We have published a land management plan for Savernake Forest, called Our Shared Forest. This sets a direction to guide what the Forest will look like, feel like, and be like in 100 years. It sets out our long-term commitments to how we will manage, protect, and enhance the Forest over the coming decades.

To develop Our Shared Forest, we sought views from a wide cross section of individuals and organisations. We received a strong response from local communities and input from expert organisations and bodies.

Our Shared Forest has been guided by a number of relevant national and local strategies, such as Forestry England's strategy 'Growing the Future', A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment, and the North Wessex Downs AONB management plan.

What next?

From the Our Shared Forest land management plan, we will create a more detailed, shorter term Forest Plan that will direct operational activity decade by decade. The first of these will be shared for consultation in the coming months and will direct our immediate work actions over the coming 10 years.

Contact us

If you have any questions about Our Shared Forest or our work at Savernake Forest, please contact us via westengland@forestryengland.uk or 0300 067 4800 (available Monday to Friday 9am-3pm).