Heartwood Forest

Heartwood Forest
Map showing the location of Heartwood Forest
Heartwood Forest
Location in Hertfordshire
Location Sandridge, England
Nearest city St. Albans
Coordinates 51°47′16″N 0°19′11″W / 51.7879°N 0.3196°W / 51.7879; -0.3196Coordinates: 51°47′16″N 0°19′11″W / 51.7879°N 0.3196°W / 51.7879; -0.3196
Governing body Woodland Trust

Heartwood Forest is a planned forest (woodland creation site) in Hertfordshire, England.

The plans were set out in 2008[1] by the Woodland Trust to create the largest new forest of British native tree species of approximately 347 hectares (860 acres) in size.

The site, near Sandridge, St Albans in the Metropolitan Green Belt, was formerly agricultural land (predominantly oilseed rape fields), but also currently contains around 18 hectares (44 acres) of remaining ancient woodland, which are integrated into the new woodland.

On 9 December 2009, a Guinness World Record attempt was made for the 'BBC Tree O'clock ' scheme, in association with the Woodland Trust to plant the most new trees as possible in one hour, with three woodland sites making the attempt, the Heartwood Forest, Hainault Forest and Gransha Park. The previous record being 18,124[2] which was held by the Forestry Commission at a site in Scotland.[3] The Heartwood Forest site came second, with 20,326, being beaten by Gransha Park where they planted over 26,000 trees in the hour.[2][3].

The site was fully planted by March 2018, with 600,000 trees planted over a period of 10 years by around 45,000 volunteers. The site also contains wildflower meadows, walking routes and a community orchard.[4] There is also an arboretum containing all 60 native British tree species.[5] It officially opened on 25 March 2018.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Huge woodland named 'Heartwood Forest', St. Albans and Harpenden Review – Retrieved 3 May 2010
  2. 1 2 Tree-planting world record attempts, BBC Breathing Places – Retrieved 28 May 2010
  3. 1 2 Over 20,000 trees planted in 60 minutes…, Woodland Trust News – Heartwood Forest – Retrieved 28 May 2010
  4. 1 2 Berry, Franki (22 March 2018). "Final trees planted in decade long forest project". Herts Advertiser. Archant. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "Heartwood Forest: putting down roots". Hertfordshire Life. Archant. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
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