Forest Plan / Delivery Strategy / 5-Year Action Plan

5-Year Action Plan

This Action Plan, spanning the period April 2025 to March 2030, sets out tactics to support the long-term delivery of the CCF strategic goals. Ten objectives, listed below in table 6, will be prioritised across this time frame. These objectives are mapped to the relevant 25-year goals (G1 – G4). Actions A1-A40 present a structured approach to fulfilling these objectives, listed below in Table 7. The actions are grouped into broad themes and mapped to the relevant objectives (1–10). Each objective will be delivered via multiple actions and, as illustrated in table 7, some actions will contribute to several objectives.

  • While delivery of the Action Plan will be led by Raise this will rely substantially upon the supporting actions of strategic partners in Cumbria Community Forest. Actions are contingent on resourcing including confirmation of anticipated funding; sourcing additional funding; expanding capacity of the Raise team; and partner support. Actions are subject to review and adaptation as indicated in our Monitoring & Evaluation Framework and as reasonable in response to changing circumstances.

If you are on mobile, you can download a mobile friendly version of the Action Plan below.

Table 6: Objectives for Cumbria Community Forest’s five-year action plan, 2025-2030

Objectives for 2025-2030
G1
G2
G3
G4
Objective 1: Establish at least 500 hectares of trees and woodland prioritising areas of maximum ecological, social and climate impact        
Objective 2: Restore 50 hectares of existing unmanaged woodland to bring into sustainable management        
Objective 3: Increase the number of people living within a 15-minute walk from accessible treescapes and woodland, prioritising areas under-served by Green Infrastructure        
Objective 4: Meaningfully engage with and involve 7,500 people in the design, planting and maintenance of Cumbria Community Forest        
Objective 5: Design accessible treescapes through co-creation processes with local communities to understand and address barriers to access experienced by different community groups, so all may benefit        
Objective 6: Enable communities to create their own community woodland – owned and/or managed and utilised by local people        
Objective 7: Increase the capacity and skills of the woodland workforce in Cumbria, in support of planting, maintaining and restoring community forest sites; and supply of trees and materials        
Objective 8: Develop practice of transformative inclusivity through woodland engagement programmes        
Objective 9: Objective 9: Develop ‘flagship’ tree and woodland sites which showcase our Guiding Principles        
Objective 10: Research, publish and share our learning and best practices relevant to neurodivergence and woodland        

Table 7: Critical Actions, grouped by theme, to support progress towards Objectives of the Cumbria Community Forest 5-year action plan, 2025-2030

Theme Action Contributes to objective(s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Partner A1: Set up governance for Cumbria Community Forest (CCF governance)                    
A2: Continue sharing successes, learning with, and seeking input from CCF Partnership                    
A3: Establish long-term strategic partnerships with larger landowners                    
A4: Enact formalised working relationship with Local Authority partners                    
A5: Establish working relationship with lead housing / infrastructure developers                    
A6: Operate a “One Team Approach” with planting and regulatory partners e.g. Forestry Commission, to maximise planting across all schemes, report on woodland creation in the CCF boundary, and develop synergies in funding and promotional activities [Z]                    
A7: Identify or establish where necessary, and actively participate in collaborative forums with key woodland delivery organisations & organisations delivering Cumbria’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy                    
Theme Action Contributes to objective(s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Flagship A8: Identify strategic ‘flagship’ projects, informed by CCF partners, CCF opportunity mapping and responding to relevant priorities of Local Plans and other strategies as discussed in this Plan                    
A9: Develop an urban treescape flagship project, e.g. in Barrow, supporting relevant priorities of Local Plans and other strategies as discussed in this Plan, e.g. public health and climate policy                    
A10: Embed sustainable Green Infrastructure in a flagship residential development site, e.g. St Cuthberts Garden Village, supporting relevant priorities of Local Plans and other strategies as discussed in this Plan                    
A11: Develop a flagship agroforestry demonstration site, e.g. Park House Farm, and enable outreach to many farmers, supporting local policy e.g. land-based skills development, biodiversity & nature restoration and public health policy                    
A12: Develop flagship project which integrates best-practice for accessible travel, supporting relevant priorities of Local Plans and other strategies as discussed in this Plan, e.g. health and climate strategy                    
A13: Initiate first flagship woodland co-designed and co-maintained in partnership with a local community, supporting relevant Local Plans and local authority initiatives                    
Theme Action Contributes to objective(s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Plan A14: Scope woodland management situation in the CCF boundary, building on opportunity mapping work to date                    
A15: Scope woodland accessibility situation in CCF boundary, based on permissive access, distance from settlements and individual accessibility need, building on opportunity mapping work to date                    
A16: Pilot accessible woodland design and consultation process, to develop understanding of requirements to support and enable engagement for different communities and individuals and incorporate this into CCF practice                    
A17: Raise create and initiate employability action plan with priority given to neurodivergent individuals, includes courses, confirmation of apprenticeship training providers, work placement partnerships (e.g. DWP)                    
Theme Action Contributes to objective(s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Practice A18: Integrate CCF opportunity mapping into site prioritisation to maximise benefits, including via outreach to potential applicants in priority areas                    
A19: Deliver woodland creation sites in areas with greatest opportunities for health and wellbeing benefits                    
A20: Develop model for Raise to support the restoration of woodland into sustainable management                    
A21: Deliver public community volunteering days at woodland establishment and restoration sites                    
A22: Develop learning programme and resources to support communities to own all stages of woodland creation and early management                    
A23: In partnership with Local Authorities, establish approach to integrating active travel into woodland creation                    
A24: Develop understanding of funding models which support communities to self-organise and share learning between community woodland sites                    
A25: Deliver programmes of community forestry work experience and mentoring                    
A26: Support training, apprenticeships and employment in community forestry                    
A27: Support woodland management skills training for woodland education practitioners, enabling the subsequent development of woodland management skills for children and young people                    
A28: Develop woodland-based programmes with expert partners to support neurodivergent young people and adults to navigate change and improve their health, wellbeing and opportunities                    
A29: Establish long-term programmes supporting neurodivergent young people and adults via woodlands and delivering social justice outcomes                    
A30: Partnership delivery of one-off and short-term programmes across cultural, health, communities, education and criminal justice sectors, with a central focus on serving neurodivergent people                    
A31: Annual skills refresh for the Raise team in working with neurodivergent communities and individuals                    
Theme Action Contributes to objective(s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Review A32: Gather and reflect on feedback and other data from participation at planting days, annual event, and engagement programmes, to iteratively improve our engagement offer and widen participation                    
A33: Gather and reflect on experiences of applicants to CCF woodland creation grant funding to iteratively improve our offer, support, and continue to develop uptake                    
A34: Continue consultation with neurodivergent communities, including via arts-led engagement, to understand what programmes would be of benefit and what a supportive community woodland venue looks like for these communities                    
A35: Identify potential external partners to support monitoring and evaluation, Raise team reflection and continuous improvement, for robust and reliable evaluation of CCF delivery                    
A36: Undertake research in-house via Raise Collective and in collaboration with Research Partners                    
Theme Action Contributes to objective(s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Share A37: Celebrate the successes, progress and contributions of CCF partners and communities on an annual basis                    
A38: Nurture and showcase neurodivergent artists and culture within inspirational forest settings                    
A39: Frame neurodivergent best practices and input into ECF network, including development of policy to be adopted by wider ECF organisations                    
A40: Through a local academic partnership, publish research findings, present at conferences and track our research impact                    

Key Supporting Frameworks

Raise will provide to underpin the 5-year action plan:

[Z] Forestry Commission plays a regulatory role in woodland creation, for example via Environmental Impact Assessments for woodland (2023)