SoNaRR 2025: Woodlands

Natural Resources Wales

This information is part of the State of Natural Resources Report 2025

Woodlands in Wales can be broadly categorised as native (generally broad-leaved) and non-native (generally coniferous). This assessment covers woodlands that meet the National Forest Inventory definition, which includes a minimum size of land covered (0.5 hectares). This definition will include farm woodlands above the size threshold, although these are not identified separately within the assessment. Small tree groups and Trees outside Woodland (ToW) are covered in other ecosystem assessments, including Enclosed farmland and Urban.

 

Key messages

  • Woodlands deliver a range of ecosystem services and benefits which are important for well-being. They are important for biodiversity, provide timber, help improve air quality and reduce flood risk, sequester carbon, enrich our culture and heritage, and provide opportunities for recreation, education, and learning.
  • Action is needed to improve the resilience of existing woodlands to pressures such as climate change and pests and diseases, to make sure the benefits they provide continue in the future.
  • Timber, a sustainable and natural resource, makes a valuable contribution to the Welsh economy and more needs to be produced in Wales to deliver greater benefits.
  • Trees and woodlands have a vital role to play in tackling Wales’s declared nature and climate emergencies; we need to protect and positively manage what we have and expand woodland cover
     

Assessment of SMNR

This woodlands assessment is one of eight ecosystem and three natural resource assessments that inform the overall SoNaRR2025 report. It builds on the findings of SoNaRR2020, drawing together updated evidence from subject experts and national datasets. Related assessments include Enclosed farmland and Urban, which consider trees outside of woodland.

The assessment is structured around four interlinked aims that guide Wales’s progress toward the sustainable management of natural resources (SMNR), helping to communicate the relationship between the environment, well-being, and the economy.

Aim 1: Stocks of natural resources are safeguarded and enhanced

Welsh woodlands contain a diverse stock of trees and associated flora and fauna, but pressures from climate change, pests, diseases, invasive species, and grazing are reducing their health and extent. Tree diseases such as Ash Dieback and Phytophthora ramorum have significantly impacted tree health, which in turn affects woodland biodiversity. Invasive non-native species (INNS), including Grey squirrels, non-native deer and Rhododendron ponticum, continue to damage woodland ecosystems. Grazing by deer and livestock also hinders regeneration of trees and ground flora, although in specific locations, managed grazing may support specialist woodland bird populations. Air pollution, particularly ammonia, is increasingly affecting ancient woodlands, despite reductions in sulphur and nitrogen emissions.

Efforts to safeguard and enhance woodland resources include the Celtic Rainforest project, woodland restoration grant schemes, and improved woodland management through amendments to the Agriculture (Wales) Act. Planning Policy Wales now mandates protection of trees and woodlands. Woodland creation schemes have increased tree stocks, and targeted actions are addressing INNS and herbivore pressures. However, reduced management in some woodlands remains a concern. Built development and infrastructure, particularly renewable energy, also pose risks to woodland extent and connectivity.

Aim 2: Ecosystems are Resilient to Expected and Unforeseen Change

Woodland resilience is assessed through diversity, extent, condition, and connectivity. Native woodlands show medium-high diversity. Generally they are becoming more mature with increased shading, except where Ash dieback is creating canopy gaps which is increasing herbaceous plant cover. Non-native woodlands remain low in diversity, though restocking is improving species mix. Woodland extent has increased from 4.2% to 15% of Wales since 1905, largely due to non-native plantations in post-war years, but recent broadleaf planting has helped. However, to some degree, losses from development and habitat restoration will offset gains. Native woodlands tend to be smaller and more fragmented, while larger, non-native blocks have better internal connectivity.

Condition is mixed, with disease and nitrogen deposition reducing ecosystem health, while targeted management and INNS removal improve it locally. Most stands are in intermediate condition. Connectivity is improving through woodland creation within Priority Ecological Networks (PENs), though historic fragmentation persists. Future resilience depends on continued but targeted planting, improved management including diversifying tree species, and addressing pressures from climate change, pests, and land use change. Welsh Government schemes and updated forestry standards are supporting progress.

Aim 3: Healthy Places for people, protected from environmental risk

Woodlands support human health and healthy places by regulating climate, filtering air, and managing water flows. In 2020, Welsh forests sequestered 1.2 million tonnes of CO₂, projected to rise to 1.6 million tonnes by 2050. All woodlands filter air pollutants, for example broadleaf woodlands filtered air pollutants which prevented nearly 1,000 life years lost in 2022. Woodlands also reduce flood and drought risks by regulating water flow and retaining soil moisture. These services are increasingly recognised in policy and planning, with new guidance promoting woodlands as a nature-based solution.

Woodlands also improve well-being through recreation, cultural identity, and education. In 2021/22, nearly 39 million visits were made to Welsh woodlands, with 280,000 people gaining health benefits. However, access is unequal with mobility issues and lack of transport limiting use for some groups. Initiatives like the National Forest for Wales aim to improve accessibility. Research and policy developments are enhancing understanding of woodland benefits and guiding future investment in nature-based solutions.

Aim 4: Contributing to a Regenerative Economy, Achieving Sustainable Levels of Production and Consumption

Woodlands contribute to Wales’s economy through timber production, flood mitigation, pollution control, and recreation. Between 2014–2023, softwood removals averaged 1.26 million tonnes annually, though a 40% decline is forecast by 2046. Hardwood removals are increasing, but market uptake remains low. In 2022, wood provisioning services contributed £614 million in Gross Value Added, supporting over 10,000 jobs. Long-lived wood products offer carbon storage and circular economy benefits, especially in construction.

Sustainable management is supported by UK Forestry Standard and certification schemes. Around 48% of Welsh woodlands are certified, with more managed under grant conditions. Welsh Government’s timber industrial strategy ‘Making Wood Work for Wales’s (2025) promotes high-value production aligned with biodiversity and climate goals. Sustainable finance options are being developed to advance nature-based solutions for flood and pollution management. Challenges remain from development pressures and reduced management, but policy and funding initiatives are helping to align woodland use with regenerative economic principles.

Key changes since SoNaRR2020

Overall, there have been few significant changes since SoNaRR2020 in terms of drivers and pressures, woodland resilience, ecosystem services and benefits and progress towards SMNR. This is to be expected given the long-life of woodlands, the time it takes for many drivers of change to generate a response, and the availability of evidence of the impact of these responses. An ongoing deterioration in tree health as a result of pests and diseases is one of the main concerns, as is climatic change with evidence of greater impacts such as windthrow due to extreme weather events. Nitrogen pollution impacting the woodland ecosystem is also an increasing concern. Positively, with Welsh Government’s publication of a new timber industrial strategy in 2025 and the commencement of the Sustainable Farming Scheme in 2026 which will support improved woodland management and more woodland creation, there is potential for positive improvement towards delivery of SMNR.

Read the full assessment of the Woodlands ecosystem in our State of Natural Resources Report 2025.

Read this assessment



Underlying evidence

In writing our assessments and to better identify opportunities for action we have gathered evidence that helps us understand these key aspects:  

  • the drivers of change and pressures on woodlands in Wales.
  • the ecosystem resilience of woodlands in Wales.
  • the benefits, or services, we get from woodlands and how changes in the state of woodlands impact on well-being. 

Access the detailed evidence through our SoNaRR 2025 Evidence portal.

View full screen version.

 

 

Evidence needs

We have identified evidence needs linked to improving understanding of how to accelerate woodland adaptation to improve resilience, for example to climate change and pests and diseases. There is a call for better data on the distribution and impact of non-quarantine pests and diseases, as well as the genetic diversity of tree species. Evidence is also needed on the effectiveness of natural colonisation,  the net change in woodland cover, and the condition of ‘ancient woodlands including Plantations on ancient woodland sites.

The impact of nutrient enrichment and adjacent land use on woodland ground flora, and the role of tree species diversity in woodland productivity, are further priorities. There is a need to quantify the ecosystem trade-offs and synergies associated with woodland expansion, particularly in relation to land use change and climate adaptation. Reliable methods, including earth observation and ground-based measures, are required to measure woodland cover and condition more comprehensively, assess trends and monitor the effectiveness of restoration. These evidence needs are critical for informing sustainable management, policy, and operational decisions for Wales’s woodlands.

Read SoNaRR 2025 Evidence needs.

Key evidence sources

Explore some of the evidence we have used to inform our assessment:

 

Case studies

The Celtic Rainforest project

The Celtic Rainforest project has facilitated INNS and non-native conifer removal (as well as conservation grazing, and Plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS) restoration).

About Us | Celtic Rainforests Wales

 

The UK Forestry Standard

Promotion and communication of how woodlands can provide nature based solutions for climate change mitigation, flood and drought risk mitigation and air pollution mitigation. The UK Forestry Standard (2024) explains the multipurpose benefits of woodlands, and new UKFS Practice Guides on managing woodlands to reduce flood risk and creating and managing riparian woodland (2024) have been published.

The UK Forestry Standard - Forest Research

 

Making Wood Work

Welsh Government has published Making Wood Work for Wales, a timber industrial strategy. As stated in the strategy: “at the core of this strategy is a sense of working together to overcome the challenges and to seize the opportunities to support local supply chains to boost the potential value we gain from our timber, all the way from forest to product.”

Making Wood Work for Wales - The Welsh Government’s Timber Industrial Strategy

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