What does the pledge mean?

There are broadly three defined different types of tree cover in England—forests, woodland, and trees outside woodland, which are distinguished by their density and size.

The Forestry Commission, which promotes woodland growth in England, defines woodland as tree cover which is at least 0.5 hectares in size, at least 20 metres in width, and has a canopy cover of at least 20%. There’s no set single statutory definition of either ‘woodland’ or ‘forest’, however. When we asked the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) what its definition of a ‘national forest’ is, a spokesperson said this label was not a formal designation, but an “opportunity area” to enable collaboration between government and landowners.

There is currently one named ‘National Forest’ in England, which was established in the 1990s and spans 200 miles of the Midlands between Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire.

Labour’s manifesto didn’t specify how many new woodlands it would create, or set a precise figure on the number of trees it wanted to plant across England, aside from “millions”. It also did not specify dates for when these would be achieved by.

A Defra spokesperson confirmed these commitments were by the end of this parliament—so by August 2029 at the latest.

There is already a legally-binding commitment for 16.5% of all land in England to be covered by woodland or trees (outside of existing woodland) by 2050, which was introduced by the previous government in 2023 and the Labour government has confirmed it is committed to.

What progress has been made?

We are rating this pledge as “appears on track”.

In March 2025, the government announced it would create a new national forest, the Western Forest, across Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset. It said it would create “at least 2,500 hectares of woodland and other tree habitats” by 2030, and plant 20 million trees by 2050.

In May 2025, nature minister Mary Creagh MP said the aim is for 50 hectares of tree cover by the end of 2025, although it is not clear how many individual trees this would amount to, as this depends on the type of woodland created.

However, plans for the other two promised national forests have not yet been announced.

The June 2025 Spending Review allocated £816 million for tree planting in England between 2024/25 and 2028/29. This compares with £500 million allocated for tree planting under the previous government from 2020/21 to 2024/25, with an additional £124 million allocated in October 2021 for both tree planting and peat restoration.

According to the Forestry Commission’s latest data, which covers the financial year 2024/25, some 7,164 hectares, or approximately 10.5 million trees, were planted. This compares to some 5,529 hectares in 2023/24 (approximately 7 million trees), though Labour was not in government for the first few months of 2024/25.

So while the pledge to plant “millions” of trees could be said to have been met already, it’s worth noting that the past five years have all seen at least 4 million trees planted in England annually.

A Defra spokesperson told us in September 2025: “Tree planting rates are now at the highest level in over 20 years.

“There is much more to do—that is why we are investing over £800 million to plant trees across the country as part of our Plan for Change.”