Our principles

These principles set out what we do. We establish, look after, and nurture a culture of trees, woods, and other habitats. We do this in order to bring benefits for people, nature, and climate. This cannot be done on our own, but by working alongside others.

In general, the starting point for our work is trees and woods, but these cannot be considered in isolation and must contribute to a thriving mosaic of other habitats.

4. Establish trees, woods, and other habitats​
   1. Aim to reach 15% tree cover across Cheshire and Merseyside by 2050 (from a 2025 baseline of 13.7%), pushing beyond this if possible towards our long-term ambition of 30% tree cover. Our long-term ambition is a multi-generational collaborative endeavour, with our “Where principles” mapping how this might look across The Mersey Forest. Read more about out tree cover ambition.
   2. Aspire to meet the 3+30+300 ambition, within our urban areas in particular. Where every home can see 3 trees, every neighbourhood has 30% tree cover, and everyone lives within 300m of an accessible green space with trees. Individual local authorities have their own adopted accessible greenspace standards, so this aspiration does not override these. Tree cover ambitions also vary across our area.
   3. Tailor establishment schemes to meet individual landowner’s objectives, bring benefits for people, nature and climate, and follow UK Forestry Standard and other best practice. Schemes:
      • Deliver a wide range of trees and woodlands across urban, urban fringe, and rural areas (see “Where principle” 18).
      • Are informed by our “right tree, right place, right reason – area-specific principles” and consideration of how they can meet the needs/provide opportunities for people, nature, and climate in each locality.
      • Follow the UK Forestry Standard, which sets out requirements and guidelines for general forestry practice, biodiversity, climate change, historic environment, landscape, people, soil, and water. It covers a wide range of topics such as biosecurity, pests and diseases, protected and priority habitats and species, climate resilience, important views, public rights of way, and peaty soils. Safety is an important consideration, especially in urban areas where it can be built into the forest’s design.
      • Consider constraints to new trees and woodland, which include agricultural land quality (to maintain food security), peaty soils, areas prioritised for other habitats (including in Local Nature Recovery Strategies), utilities, drains, and proximity to roads.
      • Incorporate other habitats such as ponds, scrub, edge habitats, wildflower meadows, rides, open habitats, and hedgerows.
      • Include amenities for people where appropriate, such as public rights of way and other infrastructure.
      • Can be designed to allow for timber production.
      • Encourage natural colonisation where appropriate, as well as planting of trees and woods.
      • Use a mix of species, including native, non-native, broadleaf, coniferous, fruit, nut, and climate-resilient trees, as appropriate to each location.
      • Use locally sourced and grown trees and seed, with suitably assured stock (such as UK and Ireland Sourced and Grown Assurance or Grown in Britain), wherever possible. This minimises the introduction of pests and diseases, and improves biosecurity. Use improved quality tree stock where suitable.
   4. Build in appropriate aftercare and monitoring to ensure that new trees and woodlands thrive.
   5. Encourage local seed collection, growing, and planting. By individuals and as part of community tree nurseries. This helps to maintain the genetic base of our trees and widen it beyond commercial stocks, ensuring more climate resilience. Work with local authority partners to find suitable sites for community led planting.
   6. Take opportunities to deliver at scale, whilst prioritising areas of greatest need for people, nature and climate. As set out in 17.3 of the “Where principles”.

5. Look after trees, woods, and other habitats​
   1. Aim for 80% of woodlands across Cheshire and Merseyside to be sustainably managed by 2050 (from a 2025 baseline of 36%), working towards our long-term ambition of 100% of woods. Reaching 80% of woodlands in sustainable management by 2050 is the equivalent of about 350 hectares per year. This will only be achievable if funding is made available, as we have generally seen more funding for woodland establishment than management.
   2. Bring trees and woods, including the now maturing woodlands established since the outset of The Mersey Forest, into appropriate and proactive long-term management to ensure that they become a real asset for people, nature and climate. This is a step change that cannot be achieved by any one organisation on its own. We need to:
      • Make the case as to why this is vital.
      • Explore different models for doing and funding this. We need to find ways to make woodland management more profitable and worth doing on a small scale. This also includes management of woodlands by communities.
      • Ensure appropriate monitoring of woodlands.
      • Encourage a system where the management of trees and woods contributes to a circular economy. Timber, wood products, and other materials from management activities are used as a resource, rather than being chipped or going to waste, providing materials and fuel for construction, housing, industry, artisans and makers. This provides increased timber security, and develops a thriving and resilient timber industry.
      • Encourage local production, management, harvesting, processing and consumption, including exploring new technologies and markets for timber products; connecting producers with local markets.
      • Revitalise traditional skills such as coppicing and hedge laying.
      • Engage volunteers and communities in woodland care, as a great opportunity to involve people, develop skills, create jobs, and nurture a culture of trees, woods, and other habitats.
   3. Tailor management to meet individual landowner’s objectives, bring benefits for people, nature and climate, and follow UK Forestry Standard and other best practice. Schemes:
      • Are informed by our “right tree, right place, right reason – area-specific principles” and consideration of how they can meet the needs/provide opportunities for people, nature, and climate in each locality.
      • Follow the UK Forestry Standard, which sets out requirements and guidelines for general forestry practice, biodiversity, climate change, historic environment, landscape, people, soil, and water. It covers a wide range of topics such as biosecurity, pests and diseases, protected and priority habitats and species, climate resilience, important views, public rights of way, and peaty soils. Safety is an important consideration, especially in urban areas where it can be built into the forest’s design.
      • Incorporate other habitats such as ponds, scrub, edge habitats, wildflower meadows, rides, open habitats, and hedgerows. See principle 2.2, for some approaches to managing woodlands for nature.
      • Include creating amenities for people where appropriate, such as public rights of way and other infrastructure.
      • Can include harvesting and timber production.
   4. Take opportunities to deliver at scale, whilst prioritising areas of greatest need for people, nature and climate. As set out in 17.3 of the “Where principles”.

6. Nurture a culture of trees, woods, and other habitats
   1. Explore what a successful tree and woodland culture looks like, ways to nurture it, and how to measure progress towards this. Use the latest understanding, evidence and knowledge to guide this, including learning lessons from other countries which have strong woodland cultures (see principle 14 “Data, knowledge and evaluation”).
   2. Nurture a culture where people are intertwined with trees, woods, and other habitats. This is an essential part of our work, and not a nice to have add on. The more people care about trees, woods, and other habitats, the more we can establish and the better we can look after them, and in doing so also better look after ourselves. We need to work together to cultivate a societal mindshift, to grow a relationship of respect and reciprocity, a love of trees, and a responsibility towards future generations. Where we appreciate and cherish the benefits trees give us, and we give back to them by growing more, looking after them better, and celebrating them, establishing a loop of giving and taking. This can lead to more environmentally informed decisions and behaviour.
   3. Co-create and deliver our work collaboratively, seeing tree and wood establishment and care as an opportunity to nurture a culture of trees, woods, and other habitats. We will need to engage, involve, listen to, inform, educate, and consult people. Establishing new trees and woods of interest to people, including a mix of species as appropriate to each scheme, including native, non-native, broadleaf, coniferous, blossom, fruit, nut, and climate-resilient trees, and incorporating trees in different forms. This can be guided by evidence led best practice.
   4. Create opportunities for people, including children and young people, to experience and enjoy trees and woods, and foster personal connections. An appreciation of trees and woods should start with our own personal connections. Even very small woodlands near to people can provide these opportunities. Children and young people will benefit from any trees and woodlands established today, and will be responsible for their future care.
   5. Integrate the arts, storytelling, landscape and heritage throughout our work, as powerful relationship building tools.
      • Use creative interventions that bring beauty, joy, awe, belonging, exploration, spontaneity, play, and hope.
      • Celebrate trees and woods as a source of inspiration, materials, and a setting for the arts and artisans.
   6. Weave trees and woods into everyday life and across all aspects of human endeavour and decision-making. This is essential to sustain and build momentum beyond the forestry and environmental sectors. We will work with wide-ranging partners, who may not have trees as their primary focus, but where there is potential to better integrate trees and woods into their work for shared outcomes. This includes working with:
      • Our economic, health, education, water, and agricultural systems.
      • Place-making, built environment, and planning.
      • Transport and highways.
      • Business and corporate responsibility.
      • Tourism, recreation and leisure.
      • Arts and culture.
   7. Collaborate to develop education, training, skills, and jobs relating to all aspects of trees and woods. Work towards an improved collective knowledge, appreciation, and understanding of the value of trees and woods. Create jobs, employment, and develop skills in nurseries, forestry, arboriculture, land management, tourism, and other sectors.