Community Tree Planting
The UK has one of the lowest tree covers in Europe, and the gap shows up everywhere from biodiversity decline to weakened community ties. Reforestation efforts here often struggle in the long run because trees planted by contractors don't have anyone close by to water them through a drought or mulch them through a hard winter. Without local stewardship, even the best-funded planting fades within a few years.
This program takes the opposite approach. Community groups across the country decide for themselves what their patch needs, whether that's a woodland, an orchard, a roadside hedge, or a food forest of native species. They design the project, run it, and tend the trees year after year. Where possible, local schools come in too, turning each planting site into a hands-on classroom for the children who will inherit it.
Not For Sale supports Community Tree Planting because resilient communities are the foundation of every kind of freedom we work toward. People who know their neighbours, look after a shared piece of land, and pass that care on to their children are the ones least vulnerable to the isolation and disconnection that exploitation depends on.
Field updates
Posts from the planting team29 May 2025
This beautiful landscape was almost completely deforested to make way for pasture and now this is one of many projects in the area to try to bring back some areas of woodland.
28 May 2025
These trees were planted in January 2023 and are now really beginning to thrive. They form a woodland edge to a community smallholding and provide some very welcome tree cover to this largely deforested landscape.
30 Apr 2025
This is at the entrance to the site, so borders the busy dual-carriageways that criss-cross the area. When mature this will provide a much-needed woodland edge to the site and be valued by people and wildlife alike.
30 Apr 2025
They're looking fantastic - the rainy summer last year has meant we've got very high survival rates - over 98%!
4 Sep 2024
Thanks to everyone for supporting us!
21 May 2024
These Alder trees just love the wet weather and are really thriving!
25 Apr 2024
One of the best parts of my job is going back to past projects and seeing the trees that were planted a few years ago. Yesterday we went over to the Blue Cross in Burford, Oxfordshire to monitor the trees planted in 2022. Now they've spent the last two years putting down roots, they're really beginning to grow and are rocketting out of the tree guards on their way to becoming a real young forest! We can't wait to carry on visiting this site for years to come. Thanks for all your help to making projects like this possible
12 Mar 2024
A few years ago, there were no trees in this huge field! Today were are seeing trees are being planted alongside a naturalised river. The river is being left to re-establish its own course through the landscape, which will create a much more dynamic landscape. This will slow down the speed of water as it moves through the watershed, reducing flooding downstream and creating wet-woodland habitats in the uplands.
12 Mar 2024
After centuries of settlement and agriculture, this area has been largely deforested, with dramatic declines in wildlife populations. This large-scale planting is part of a multi-year effort to restore vital Atlantic rainforest habitat in upland England forms an integral part of a large-scale natural regeneration ongoing in the area.
25 Jan 2024
Our longstanding partner Nature and Nurture Activities have completed their woodland planting at the Blue Cross animal rehoming centre in Burford, West Oxfordshire. Thanks to support from Tree Nation, a wide variety of native species, 1100 in total, have been planted to restock the woodland following Ash Dieback. The new planting has opened up opportunities for re-designing the woodland, creating paths and glades that will enhance the beauty and access around the site. Over 60 community volunteers came to lend a hand including our project staff and Trustees!
25 Jan 2024
This is a community-farm, that produces organic food for local people to buy. Scottish islands are very dependent on imports and this can be very expensive, as well as disconnecting people from the food system. Planting 5055 trees at this site will create more sheltered fields for the production of this food, as well as engaging local people in the topic of trees and local food.
25 Jan 2024
Here local schoolchildren are helping plant shelterbelts at the very southern point of the island, providing shelter for organic food production as well as fantastic habitat for wildlife.
Sign Up to our Newsletter
Join our movement and get the latest updates, stories, and ways to take action, straight to your inbox.
