About this woodland
Ed Woods, one of our newest woodland creation projects, is a beautiful 10 acre site, near Shepton Mallet. With the help of our volunteers, we planted 4000 trees in the first few months of 2023.
Ed Woods is our first Land Partnership venture, meaning that ANT will work with the site landowners to create permanent woodland, rather than fundraising to buy the site. The permanence of Ed Woods is guaranteed by a new environmental legislation passed in September 2022 called the “Conservation Covenant”.
Conservation Covenants are agreements between land-owners and a “responsible body” – in this case, Avon Needs Trees – that guarantees the long-term conservation of the land. This agreement is legally binding on the landowner and for subsequent owners of the land. We are particularly excited about this because not only is this our first Land Partnership, as far as we know it is also the first of its kind with the UK!
4000
Trees planted
TBC
Volunteer days
10
Acres
Meet the Landowners
Ed Woods is owned by brother and sister, Bob and George, who inherited the land from their parents, Nicky and Edward. Wanting to do something that would increase the biodiversity of the area and respond to the climate crisis, Bob and George decided to create a permanent woodland. They wanted to partner with a local established charity who would undertake the task of creating a woodland, ensuring it was made up of trees that would suit the site conditions and would be maintained beyond the initial tree-planting season. George says:
“Our dad Ed, sadly died last year. He’d had cancer on and off for 6 years and it had been a huge struggle for our family as we were still grieving our mum Nicky, who’d died in 2017.
Our parents loved nature & wildlife. They met at agricultural college and fell in love. With a true passion for farming & living off the land, they were in their element during their time here.
The land holds so many incredible memories for my family and friends. Over the years the field has hosted sheep, camping holidays, birthdays and funeral ceremonies.
Dedicating a woodland to mum & dad provides a living, growing memorial to them and is a poignant way of remembering & honouring their lives. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring some life back to our already troubled land.”
Where is Ed Woods?
What we have planted
Volunteering at this wood
Image - Carys Holbeck
We are carrying out tree planting and tree care days this winter at Ed Woods.
Sign up to our volunteering days below.
A HUGE thank you…
We would like to thank landowners Bob and George who chose to partner with ANT to create this new woodland site.
We would also like to thank the Forest of Avon Trust for their funding and support. We are so grateful.
