Founded in 1994, The Great Western Community Forest is one of 12 created across England where local people and organisations work together to enhance the environment. Community forest is spread through urban locations such as on-street and public areas, private woodland, hedgerows and other habitat corridors.

By growing trees where they are most needed, corridors of woodlands better connect communities to nature, helping people enjoy the benefits of being close to trees and woodlands, enhance biodiversity and provide resilience to help reduce the effects of climate change on local communities through carbon capture and mitigating flooding and drought. With the town of Swindon at its heart, the Great Western Community Forest originally covered an area of 39,000 hectares (over 168 square miles) stretching from the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the River Thames. The boundary was extended in spring 2023 to include towns in the west of Wiltshire.

The Great Western Community Forest aims to create a network of woodlands and associated semi-natural habitats in response to local development pressures. Large areas of woodland have been planted in and around Swindon and approximately 60,000 trees have been planted to date.

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Individuals, groups and landlords can apply for various grants. Click here to read the Leaflet and Apply

For enquiries or more information please contact 07929 650 450 or email communityforest@swindon.gov.uk

Please return the form to the Woodland GAPS team: GAPS@wiltshire.gov.uk