THE Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and the Woodland Trust have agreed a landmark collaboration to help increase native woodland in the National Park.

This means the authorities will work with local farmers and landowners over the next three to four years to find sites for the creation of at least 240 hectares of new native woodland habitat.

Work will involve designing and then overseeing planting schemes, and supporting new woodland owners to monitor and maintain sites to ensure the woodlands successfully establish.

The agreement is expected to bring in around £3 million of investment for new woodland creation, a proportion of which will be used to ensure the right sites are selected for planting.

Each new planting site will help to grow the White Rose Forest - the community forest for North and West Yorkshire - as well as the larger Northern Forest that will stretch from Liverpool to the Yorkshire coast.

This will be delivered via the Northern Forest Partnership ‘Grow Back Greener’ funding programme.

Ian McPherson, member champion for the natural environment at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, said: “These schemes will provide a multitude of benefits, improving wildlife, water quality and flood management, and supporting farm businesses across the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

“Through the concerted efforts of partners in the Dales Woodland Forum working with local farmers and landowners, 2,200ha of new woodland has been created over the last 25-years at over 170 different sites in the Yorkshire Dales.

"Our new ‘Dales Woodland Strategy’ has now set an ambition to create a further 6,000ha of woodland habitat in the National Park by 2030.

“Through new partnerships, such as this one with the Woodland Trust, and collaborative working with local farmers and landowners we can go much further in creating quality woodlands in the right places to help tackle the climate emergency.”

Simon Mageean, the Woodland Trust’s programme director for the Northern Forest, said: “Farmers and landowners in the National Park will be able to apply for up to 100 per cent of the actual costs of woodland creation and aftercare, thanks to this grant funding from the Government’s Nature for Climate Fund which is helping to deliver the England Trees Action Plan."

He said the Grow Back Greener approach is 'holistic, flexible and site-specific' with enhanced advisor support at no cost to the landowner.