Community Woodland of the Year Award 2026
Congratulations to Gold winner William Robinson Gravetye Estate, and to Silver winner Laughton Greenwood.
Sponsored by The Woodland Trust, this award encourages and rewards woodland projects that benefit communities. We are looking for woodland which has been established and managed in a way which is sustainable and beneficial to the landscape, the local people, biodiversity and the economy in the short and long term.
Gold winners: William Robinson Gravetye Estate
“We were particularly impressed by the detailed way the charity has invested in and prioritised its community and volunteer engagement programme, drawn directly from the estate's silvicultural and biodiversity objectives. This is a great example of planned, carefully implemented community engagement producing high quality outcomes.”
Development manager Fiona Humphreys (William Robinson Gravetye Charity) and forest manager Josh Diplock (English Woodlands Forestry) have helped turn a woodland with limited access into one of the judges’ standout examples of community engagement.
Bequeathed to the nation in 1935 by William Robinson, known to some as “the father of modern gardening”, Gravetye is home to productive conifer stands and broadleaved high forest, around 40 per cent of which is ancient woodland. An early and impressive example of wild gardening, promoting naturalistic, resilient mixed woodland over anything more formal, it’s an impressive achievement more than 90 years on.
Judges praised the silvicultural variety and gradual evolution from coppice cycles to Continuous Cover Forestry in portions of the 242 Hectare site. Gravetye has dealt with its share of pests and diseases including ash dieback and an outbreak of the bark beetle Ips typographus, and planned restocking is now allowing the team to experiment with a range of species to build resilience for whatever comes next.
The success at Gravetye isn’t limited to its silvicultural interests either. Over five years of developing its community engagement, the estate now sees over 8,000 free visits a year. These include 5,000 Duke of Edinburgh hikers, alongside environmental education for primary, secondary and SEN pupils.
A busy volunteering programme, following the founder’s vision of inclusivity and run by a permanent member of staff, provided opportunities for 540 people last year, including 232 children, with 70-80 regular returners clocking up 2,880 volunteering hours. Judges praised the highly motivated and knowledgeable volunteers as well as the excellent onsite facilities. The forest manager works closely with the volunteers to make sure they understand the reasoning behind good woodland management and are given tasks that make a real difference.
Living up to the charity’s vision of a thriving, beautiful, and welcoming landscape, Gravetye has worked closely with organisations including the University of Sussex’s ‘NatureSense project, which uses LiDAR and acoustic equipment to help understand carbon sequestration in the forest. Other projects include the creation of wildlife ponds and the development of a landscape scale wildlife corridor.
As the judges put it, Gravetye is “a great example of planned and carefully implemented community engagement producing high-quality outcomes thanks to sound investment of human and financial resources.”
“I am delighted to accept Community Woodland of the Year on behalf of the hundreds of volunteers who have given their time and energy to the charity since we planted our first tree with Lily, aged 12, in November 2022.”, says Fiona Humphreys. “ Since then, we have planted and nurtured thousands of resilient tree and hedgerow saplings and developed wildlife habitats through our inclusive schools’ programme and community volunteering sessions.”
Silver winners: Laughton Greenwood
“Our takeaway impression is of a very busy community group with a large number of events and activities, extremely well connected with many other nature initiatives in the area. There is a huge amount going on at Laughton Greenwood, seemingly at pace, which is benefiting both the wood and the wider community.”
Laughton Greenwood is a community-managed wood in East Sussex. As Steve Lewis, chair of Laughton Greenwood, puts it: “In the wood we are aiming to build a mosaic of habitats, and in our community work we are building a mosaic of projects.”
The majority of the site is designated PAWS, or Plantation on Ancient Woodland, and makes up part of Vert Wood, one of the largest semi-ancient woodlands in the county. Following a woodland management plan drawn up in 2017, the group is gradually converting the existing coniferous plantation to native deciduous woodland through a combination of natural regeneration and enrichment planting.
Judges praised the way Laughton Greenwood has been developed to benefit people’s health, wellbeing and education, which is seen as especially important in a rural setting with fewer social opportunities. Circle of Life Rediscovery runs nature-based therapeutic programmes on site, Plumpton Agricultural College trains students there in chainsaw certification, and a regular calendar of dawn chorus walks, bat walks and tree-planting days keeps the wood in steady use by the wider community.
Supported by a strong group of volunteers and funded through grants, rentals and timber sales, the enterprise operates as a Community Benefit Society with around 85 members. Guidance and advice come from the Woodland Trust, Sussex Wildlife Trust and Butterfly Conservation, among others. The group employs a part-time ranger and an administrator and hopes to secure further funding to increase awareness and outreach.
Other conservation work includes restoring existing ponds and digging new ones alongside the Newt Conservation Partnership for great crested newts. There is also a growing programme of surveys of breeding birds, fungi and bryophytes.
Steve was quick to share the credit for the award: “We are not experts in woodland management, but we have managed to bring together allies, ecologists and foresters who have helped us develop and protect the wood.”
Harry Duncton
Harry Duncton is a freelance journalist who writes about outdoor technology, from robot mowers to leaf blowers and other power tools. His work appears in BBC Gardeners' World Magazine, T3 and Trusted Reviews, and he tests equipment in real-world conditions in Devon.
