Nearly three-quarters of England’s woods are off-limits to the public, buried government documents show.
The study by Forest Research, which is a government-funded quango, found that 73% of English woodland is publicly inaccessible.
The research also found that more than a third of the trees recorded by the Woodland Trust’s ancient tree inventory are inaccessible to the public.
Many woodlands are off-limits as they are used for business interests such as pheasant shoots and timber plantations.
Ancient trees are those that are particularly old for the species, with some of them over 1,000 years old. The Woodland Trust has called for greater awareness of these precious plants, but a large number of them are in areas that would require trespassing to visit.
Campaigners have called for the government to come up with a right-to-roam policy that allows people to walk around their local woodlands.
While in opposition, the Labour party committed to a Scottish-style right to roam, under which anyone could walk around the countryside as long as they left no trace and did not disturb farmland. However, after being lobbied by landowner groups, the party U-turned on this.
The government instead announced it would create nine river walks and three national forests.
The Right to Roam campaign is planning a series of mass trespasses in woods across England during March and April. At these events, dozens of people gather to go on an illegal walk and picnic on land usually off-limits to the public. Previous mass trespasses have taken place in woods owned by a duke, by reservoirs, and in the grounds of the country home of a lord and former Tory minister.
The campaigners are demanding the government introduce a right-to-roam bill to give the public responsible access in the countryside.
Right to Roam’s Guy Shrubsole said: “If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise – most of them are closed to the public.
“It’s appalling that three-quarters of all the woodland in England is inaccessible. Everyone loves trees, but thousands of woods are off-limits simply because of corporate logging interests or due to a landowner using their woods for pheasant shooting.
“We need the government to fix this by introducing a new right-to-roam bill in the next king’s speech this May, and give the people the right to walk in our own woods.”
The trespasses are planned across the country including in Suffolk, Norwich, West Yorkshire and Somerset.
The government is aiming for everyone to live within a 15-minute walk of accessible blue or green spaces. At the moment there are areas of England where no one lives within a 15-minute walk of nature.
Campaigners have said that government policies to deregulate planning for homes and infrastructure could lead to an erosion in the amount of green space available, particularly for those in less well off, urban areas.
The new legislation will allow housing developers to build on once-protected green spaces without having to replace the loss of nature in the surrounding area.
Lack of access to nature has crucial implications for physical and mental health. Recent studies show that living near parks or natural green spaces reduces anxiety and depression by about 20%.
Conversely, those living more than 800m from green spaces reported notably lower levels of wellbeing, particularly during the Covid-19 lockdowns. There are risks, therefore, that the increasing unaffordability of homes in nature-rich areas for younger homeowners could be deepening health inequalities.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Our countryside and green spaces are a source of great national pride. This government recognises the importance of access to nature and is already taking steps to increase it.”
