This is a list of the land owned or managed by the Forestry Commission on the Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom. In Great Britain the Forestry Commission are the government department responsible for the protection and expansion of Britain's forests and woodlands. [1] As of 2007, there are 8 areas of woodland on the Isle of Wight being managed by the Forestry Commission, 5 are owned by them and 3 are leased from other owners.
Over the last few years the Forestry Commission has undertaken a detailed survey of the woodlands it manages on the Isle of Wight, as part of what it calls the "Isle of Wight Forest Design Plan". [2] Each woodland has its own comprehensive design plan that sets out how the FC proposes to manage the area over the next 30 years. These include very detailed maps and pie charts showing the current range of tree species found in each area, how this will be changed over the coming years, aerial photographs and plans on how access will be improved for visitors.
The data in the table is taken from the design plans for each woodland, available at their website. [3]
| Site name | Ownership | Area [A] | Grid reference [B] | Car park | Map [C] | ||
| Owned | Leased | Hectares | Acres | ||||
| Brighstone Forest |  | 482 | 1191.0 | SZ419849 | | 1 | |
| Parkhurst Forest | | 395 | 976.1 | SZ474906 | | 2 | |
| Combley Great Wood | | 130 | 321.2 | SZ545895 |  | 3 | |
| Firestone Copse | | 98 | 242.2 | SZ558910 | | 4 | |
| Burnt Wood | | 47 | 116.1 | SZ445923 | | 5 | |
| Kemphill Moor Copse | | 20 | 49.4 | SZ568898 | | 6 | |
| Woodhouse Copse | | 18 | 44.5 | SZ527928 | | 7 | |
| Bouldnor Copse | | ? | ? | SZ382902 | | 8 | |
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. It was formerly also responsible for Forestry in Wales and Scotland, however on 1 April 2013, Forestry Commission Wales merged with other agencies to become Natural Resources Wales, whilst two new bodies were established in Scotland on 1 April 2019.
The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, distinct from latitude and longitude.
In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 is likely to have developed naturally.
The Irish grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used for paper mapping in Ireland. The Irish grid partially overlaps the British grid, and uses a similar co-ordinate system but with a meridian more suited to its westerly location.
Wootton Bridge is a large village, civil parish and electoral ward with about 3,000 residents on the Isle of Wight, first recorded around the year 1086. The parish also contains the settlement of Wootton.
Twyford Wood, formerly known as Twyford Forest, is a commercial wood around grid reference SK948230 in Lincolnshire owned by the Forestry Commission, England, an agency of the British Government and managed by its subsidiary, Forest Enterprise (England).
Parkhurst Forest is a woodland to the north-west of Newport, Isle of Wight, England.
Savernake Forest stands on a Cretaceous chalk plateau between Marlborough and Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England. Its area is approximately 4,500 acres.
Delamere Forest is a large wood in the village of Delamere in Cheshire, England. The woodland, which is managed by Forestry England, covers an area of 972 hectares making it the largest area of woodland in the county. It contains a mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees.
Brighstone Forest is located in the southwest of the Isle of Wight. It is the largest forest on the Isle of Wight, being just a few hectares larger than Parkhurst Forest. It is spread over a number of hilly ridges which form the backbone of the Isle of Wight. From west to east the ridges are Chessell Down, Westover Down, Brighstone Down, Newbarn Down, Rowborough Down and Idlecombe Down. The main entrance is located at grid reference SZ 419849. The forest lies close to the small town of Brighstone, and is part of the Isle of Wight AONB.
The Great Britain Historical GIS, is a spatially enabled database that documents and visualises the changing human geography of the British Isles, although is primarily focussed on the subdivisions of the United Kingdom mainly over the 200 years since the first census in 1801. The project is currently based at the University of Portsmouth, and is the provider of the website A Vision of Britain through Time.
Bedgebury Forest is a 10.5 square kilometres forest surrounding Bedgebury National Pinetum, near Flimwell in Kent. In contrast to the National Pinetum, which contains exclusively coniferous trees, the forest contains both deciduous and coniferous species. It forms part of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is one of the so-called "Seven Wonders Of The Weald". Bedgebury Forest has facilities for cycling, mountain biking, riding, orienteering and adventure play.
Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose, which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was also a more general and nationwide need in light of the potential threat of invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. Since 1 April 2015 Ordnance Survey has operated as Ordnance Survey Ltd, a government-owned company, 100% in public ownership. The Ordnance Survey Board remains accountable to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. It was also a member of the Public Data Group.
There are over 9,300 Grade I listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the county of Isle of Wight.
Scotland is ideal for tree growth, thanks to its mild winters, plentiful rainfall, fertile soil and hill-sheltered topography. As of 2019 about 18.5% of the country was wooded. Although this figure is well below the European Union (EU) average of 43%, it represents a significant increase compared to the figure of 100 years previously: in 1919 it was estimated that only 5% of the country's total land area was covered in forest. The Scottish Government's Draft Climate Change Plan has set an aim of increasing coverage to 21% of Scotland by 2032, with the rate of afforestation rising to 15,000 hectares per year by 2024.
Briddlesford Nature Reserve consists of 158 hectares of land on the Isle of Wight that is composed of a complex of different habitats, including woodland, arable farmland, lowland meadow, parkland, pond, hedgerow and grazing marsh. The reserve encompasses a majority of the Briddlesford Copses Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) together with about 50 hectares of farmland. The reserve is owned by People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and managed to preserve and enhance its biodiversity value.
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