Somerset Councils seek your views on trees

30 September 2022 : Community, Council news, Environment, Partnership working

A consultation has been launched to help influence what Somerset’s future landscapes will look like.

Opinions are being sought from experts and non-experts alike. From people who deal with trees in their work every day, to those who walk the dog in a woodland occasionally - and everyone else in between!

The consultation will inform a long-term Tree Strategy for Somerset to ensure planting and woodland management is fit for the future and supports the area’s ecology, landscape and its people.

The four District Councils (Somerset West and Taunton, Mendip, Sedgemoor, and South Somerset) and Somerset County Council, are working with consultants Evolving Forest, and stakeholders The Woodland Trust, Somerset Local Nature Partnership, the Environment Agency, The Forestry Commission, Quantock Hills AONB, Exmoor National Park and Somerset Wildlife Trust, to help develop the strategy.

Growing, protecting and restoring Somerset’s trees and woodlands will be the focus, as these measures will help reduce carbon emissions, encourage biodiversity and nature recovery, grow our sustainable timber market, and improve people’s health and wellbeing.

Residents and communities across Somerset are being asked to take part in the consultation process and to share the survey link as widely as possible.

The survey remains open until 21 October 2022 should take no more than 5-10 minutes to complete.