Plans are being drawn up to plant at least 80 hectares of new woodland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park after a huge response to an appeal for land.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) and its partners – the Forestry Commission and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust – are keen to fund schemes that will make significant improvements to the area in terms of the habitat, landscape and wildlife.

In May, the Authority put out a call offering landowners cash to plant more native broadleaved woodland in the National Park. The target was to plant 80 hectares (198 acres) by the end of the 2009/10 planting season, which runs between October and March.

William Lambert, who is planting a broadleaved woodland near Bainbridge, said:

“I had an area of land that was of little agricultural use and, year after year, it seemed to be wasted. A footpath went through it and I thought it would make the area more useful and attractive to wildlife if it was a woodland.

“With the state of farming as it is now, I couldn’t afford to do it on my own so the grant has made it happen and I have received a lot of help with the paperwork and organisation from Authority staff as well.”

The YDNPA’s Senior Trees and Woodland Officer, Geoff Garrett, said: “We picked some ancient woodlands within the National Park that were grouped together and made it a priority to plant new areas between them to link them all.

“This strategy aims to combat the long-term effect of climate change by creating a network of ‘corridors’ linked to each other and to other habitats like grassland and meadows that provide a natural way for wildlife to move around.

“We have had a fantastic response to our call to create more woodlands and this year we have £20,000 to manage the existing woodland as well as planting grants.

“We think it would take 10 years to achieve the corridor network and we are hoping to have a significant increase in the amount of money available in the next financial year.”

Andrew Colley, the YDNPA’s Member Champion for Conservation of the Natural Environment, said: “More available money has enabled the Authority and its partners to achieve this target and our thanks go out to the farmers and landowners who have volunteered to join the scheme, which is obviously a long-term project.”

So far more than 20 landowners have volunteered for the scheme and planting on 80 hectares will start next month. (November)

If you have a new woodland that you would like to plant or an existing woodland to manage and you would like more information about the grants please contact Geoff on 01756 751648 or Chris Lodge at the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust on 015242 51002.