South Yorkshire Forest
South Yorkshire Forest is one of twelve community forests in England where local councils, the Countryside Commission, the Forestry Commission, local communities and landowners are coming together and working to create a new and better environment.
South Yorkshire Forest covers an area of 39,499 hectares (153 square miles) and includes parts of Barnsley, Rotherham and Sheffield. It stretches from the high ground of the Upper Don Valley near Stocksbridge, across the urban and industrial areas of the Lower Don, Dearne and Rother Valleys. Around these main rivers is a rolling landscape made up of a patchwork of urban development, open spaces and woodland, as well as large areas of rural land, centered around Wortley, Ulley and Wentworth. Much of the farmland around the towns in the Forest area is of an uninteresting appearance and some of the land is derelict or degraded.
The aim is to plant over seven million trees so that after 40 years woodland will cover 17% of the Forest area, made up of a combination of old and new woodlands. The tree species planted will depend on the wishes of individual landowners but it is expected that around 90% of the new woodlands will contain broadleaved trees with the remaining percentage of conifers acting as a nurse crop and being gradually removed as the woods mature.
The Forest is divided into 8 zones to allow local people to understand how the plans might affect them and their immediate environment. Each zone map includes a description of the area covered, giving details of, amongst other things, surviving ancient woodland sites and parts of the zone where woodland has given way to industrialisation. Each leaflet also lays out the proposals for change in each particular zone. The Forest zones are:
- Upper Don
- Wentworth Parks
- Northern Sheffield Valleys
- Southern Sheffield Valleys
- Lower Don Valley
- Dearne Towns
- Rother Valley
- Rotherham Plain
Visit the South Yorkshire Forest Partnership website for more details.
