The Forestry Section of Leeds City Council's Parks & Countryside Division is a professional unit, specialising in the multi-purpose management of the City's trees and woodland – The Forest of Leeds. With in excess of 1200 hectares (2940 acres) of woodland and some 1.6 million non-woodland trees, this is a demanding role. That's why we make ourselves available 24 hours a day every day, including Christmas Day!

The very nature of woodland and individual tree management requires that trees are felled and pruned on regular cycles and this is for a variety of reasons. An area of woodland may need to be 'thinned', entailing the removal of a proportion of the trees in order to create sufficient space for the remaining trees to develop into strong, healthy specimens. Individual trees, such as those found along roadsides, or in our parks and school grounds may need to be pruned, or perhaps removed, for safety reasons.

What is occasionally overlooked, however, is that for every tree that is felled or pruned, many thousands of trees are planted each year. During 2000/2001 alone we planted over 58,000 trees, creating 9 hectares (18.4 acres) of new woodland, replacing individual trees that have had to be removed and creating new urban planting schemes.

Mature woodlands, much of which was once neglected, are being effectively managed (some 750 hectares of woodland have come back into management since 1993), with an emphasis upon providing woodlands with public access for informal recreation, education and nature conservation, as well as maintaining highly valued landscape features.

Our well trained staff undertake all aspects of woodland and arboricultural work, from detailed planning, inspections and report writing to the full range of practical tree care. This also includes the recycling of wood waste to produce quality wood chip and compost, which is used extensively throughout the City by both the Public and Private sector. Timber from woodland thinning is sold into the timber trade, the proceeds from which help to fund further management and new planting schemes.

Officers provide expert advice to Council Departments, Elected Members and members of the public on all matters relating to the City's trees and woodland. This may include advising on statutory responsibilities and other legal queries, subsidence issues, hazard tree evaluations and Safe Useful Life Expectancy (SULE) calculations.

The development of the Leeds Tree Warden Scheme (in association with the Tree Council) provides people with an opportunity to improve their local environment and embrace the Forest of Leeds as their very own community forest. Co-ordinated by the Forestry Section, Leeds currently has 70 voluntary Tree Wardens. Supported by our staff and a comprehensive training programme, Tree Wardens are encouraged to promote the care of their local trees and develop new tree related projects within their communities.

Promoting a deeper understanding of many benefits we receive from trees and woodland is an important aim of this section. We have been instrumental in developing this Web Site, which provides useful information on all Council owned woodlands, tree related events and activities, plus educational material for schools. Our annual Forest of Leeds Festival, is well attended by members of the public, who enjoy the spectacle of a major Tree Climbing Competition and a wide variety of forestry/tree related demonstrations and activities.

We were one of the first Forestry Units in the UK to be awarded accredition within the ISO9002 Quality Assurance scheme. As such we pride ourselves in our ability to maintain an internationally recognised level of service. Currently, we are working towards accreditation under the United Kingdom Woodland Assurance Scheme (UKWAS), which will demonstrate that the City's woodland are well managed on a fully sustainable basis.