this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2026
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Nearly three-quarters of England’s woods inaccessible to public, study finds

Exclusive: Campaigners call for government to introduce right-to-roam bill that allows people to walk around their local woodlands Helena Horton Environment reporter Fri 13 Mar 2026 06.00 CET Prefer the Guardian on Google

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 on the Woodland Trust’s ancient tree inventory are inaccessible to the public.

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[–] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Do they need to be accessible to the public?

[–] FistingEnthusiast@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes.

I'm guessing you're a yank?

[–] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

No, I'm British. But as humans we tend to ruin places where we go, even unintentionally. I think it's fine to have a % of woodland that should be left alone.

[–] FistingEnthusiast@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That's a world away from being in private hands

[–] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 6 points 2 weeks ago

I probably should have read the article :D I jumped to the conclusion that the woodlands were just off limits to everyone, but they're being used by private entities.