Some important woodlands in the National Landscape are owned by conservation organisations like the Woodland Trust and the National Trust. Others are owned by private estates such as the Lupton Estate, the Raleigh Estate and the Sharpham Estate. There are eight small community woodlands run by local groups. But most are small woodlands owned by farmers and individual landowners. We do not have any Forestry Commission woods in our area.

A few woods are actively managed for productive sawmilling timber, such as the Flete Estate on the Erme Estuary. Some others, particularly “ancient woodlands” acquired recently by the Woodland Trust in the Avon Valley, are being converted back from commercial softwood plantations to original oak woodland for conservation reasons. Some are managed in a low-key way for firewood or fencing materials. Much is neglected and unmanaged.

There is an active tree warden network within the South Devon National Landscape which is promoted nationally by the Tree Council. Tree wardens are community volunteers who aim to conserve and protect trees in their parishes and ensure a wider understanding of the importance of trees.

We have produced a simple guide to planning a tree planting scheme.

The Explore section of this website give you over 40 walks (which you can download as printer-friendly PDF files) taking you to all parts of the National Landscape. The walks exploring woodlands include

• Loddiswell and the Middle Avon Valley
• Dartmouth to Greenway: the Dart Valley Trail