Avon Needs Trees has been creating permanent woodlands since 2019, with four established woodlands under our belt.
We know how difficult it is to buy land, particularly at scale. That’s why when we first saw the advert for Wick Farm (with your help the new Lower Chew Forest) we were taken aback: land as vast as 420 acres rarely comes up around Bristol and Bath, where land is increasingly fragmented.
The more we looked into it the more excited we became. This was a once in a generation opportunity to help turn around the critically low woodland cover in our area, and we knew we had to act.
But there was a catch. This land purchase was on a scale like nothing we have ever achieved before, and we had just 6 weeks to make it happen. Could we pull it off?
Read on to learn more about our journey to achieving our biggest land purchase yet and our path ahead to creating the South West’s biggest new woodland in a generation.
Securing the land
After seeing the advert for Wick Farm, our team worked flat out behind the scenes to secure funding to purchase of the site. We were close, but we still needed to raise another £100,000 to get the purchase over the line. And we only had 6 weeks to reach our goal!
A fundraising target of this size and timescale was completely unprecedented for our charity. We put a call out to our amazing supporters. We could only hope that enough people would share our vision for Lower Chew Forest.
What happened next was beyond our highest hopes…
In under 6 weeks, our supporters absolutely smashed our fundraising target by over 70%, raising an astonishing £171,000 towards the purchase of Wick Farm. Not only were we able to purchase Wick Farm, but we had some extra to put towards establishing the forest.
On 14th May, we announced the purchase of Wick Farm, putting us one massive step closer to making the Lower Chew Forest a reality.
Planning the woodland
Once the purchase was complete, there was little time to rest! To achieve our goal of planting this winter, we needed to crack on with the huge amount of planning required to create the South West’s biggest new woodland.
Over the past few months, our team have been working with local partners to ensure our plans for the woodland fits with the wider landscape, designing the land around existing habitats to complement and link up existing ecosystems.
We’ve also been consulting with neighbours and the local community in our plans, to ensure the new woodland brings the most benefits to all.
The next step
We’re embarking on phase two of fundraising for Lower Chew Forest, so we can get the first trees in the ground this winter.
While we’ve purchased the land, establishing a new woodland, particularly one of this scale is costly. As such, we’ll be raising funds to help cover the costs of creating the new woodland and other complimentary habitats.
We are also fundraising to ensure that we can care for Lower Chew Forest long into the future. For tree planting to make a difference, long-term care is vital. Trees require decades of careful management until those benefits are really maximised. With your help, we can ensure this monumental project reaches its full potential for climate, nature, and people.
Find out more about how you can support Lower Chew Forest below.
