About the forest plan area

Friston Forest is approximately four miles west of Eastbourne and three miles east of Seaford on the south coast of England. The hamlet of Westdean lies within the western end of the forest.

The forest plan area totals 850 hectares sitting on a south facing slope above the Seven Sisters Country Park. The site is on a 200-year lease from South East Water who originally leased the area to the Forestry Commission to protect the catchment from agricultural pollution. The forest lies at the eastern end of the South Downs National Park. 

Despite being a relatively new forest, Friston represents a significant feature in the wider landscape and is the largest forest in the south of Sussex. Most of the site (73%) is beech woodland, but there are other habitats including agricultural land, chalk grassland and heathland.

A key component of the forest plan is to increase connectivity by widening existing rides to link open areas within the forest, such areas as The Gallops area of chalk grassland to priority habitats outside the forest like Lullington Heath.

Objectives of the forest plan

Environmental objectives:

• Continue to protect, maintain and enhance priority habitats by expanding and connecting open space.
• Continue to protect, maintain and enhance priority species.

Resilience objectives:

• Maintain the land within our stewardship under Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®)/Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) regulation by meeting standards detailed in the latest edition of UKWAS.

Community objectives:

• Maintain recreational facilities to a high standard through inspection processes and ensure they are capable of sustainably supporting Friston’s community.
• Continue to conserve Friston’s heritage via management of its scheduled monument and unscheduled but significant local features.
• Explore and develop opportunities in partnership with South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) regarding broader landscape-scale opportunities for recreation.

Financial objectives:

• To generate income from marketing of timber products whilst ensuring operations take place at a scale and frequency in keeping with the surrounding landscape.
• Continue to diversify the vertical and horizontal forest structure through encouraging natural regeneration, underplanting, replacing failed stands with new diverse stands, widening rides, scalloping and other means.

What we'll do

The Friston Forest plan outlines management proposals including felling and restock for a period of 70 years, with felling licence approval for operations up until 2034.

For further information regarding species composition and the future management of Friston, please refer to the full plan below.