Growing the nation's forests
At Forestry England, we're creating a brand new woodland near Okehampton. Okement Wood will cover around 83 hectares and be planted with a mix of carefully selected tree species, including both broadleaf and conifer trees. As these trees grow, Okement Wood will become a valuable habitat for wildlife and an important carbon store. In time, it will also provide a future source of sustainable timber and become a new green space for you to explore and enjoy.
This isn't the only new woodland we're creating in this part of Devon. We’re also developing Fishleigh Wood, near Hatherleigh, just 8 miles away, and Quoditch, 12 miles away. All three sites are also a short drive away from our existing woodlands at Abbeyford Woods. Together, these sites will help create a stronger network of woodland cover across the landscape.
Work in progress...
At the moment, we're still developing our plans for Okement Wood. We recently hosted a public consultation, where we invited local people and businesses to share their thoughts and ideas with us. This included a special 'drop in' event in Folly Gate. We'd like to thank everyone who got involved in this process and who attended our event, as your feedback will help us shape the final designs for Okement Wood.
Right now, we're working through the comments from the public consultation, and we'll be sharing our final designs for Okement Wood later this year. Subject to the approval of our final design plans, we hope to begin planting the first trees at this new woodland in winter 2026/27.
Supporting nature recovery
Creating a new woodland in this part of Devon will help nature recover by increasing connectivity between existing woodlands in the area. This will make it easier for wildlife to move across the landscape and reverse past habitat fragmentation. Specifically, this new woodland will join up Abbeyford Woods and Berrydown Wood.
We'll also be creating varied habitats within the woodland to benefit a wide range of species. We'll be planting a mix of different tree species and creating areas of open spaces that could benefit species including the hazel dormouse, woodland birds, badgers, otters, bats, hedgehogs, common amphibians, and invertebrates.
Frequently asked questions about the new woodland
We'll carefully plan in detail the trees that will be planted in the new woodland. Using a mix of tree and shrub species will help make the wood resilient to climate change and tree diseases, whilst also supporting a wider range of wildlife.
We're in the early stages of creating our design for the new woodland. Public feedback and surveys will inform our detailed plans for it. Our aim is to create the new woodland over the next couple of years with initial planting beginning in winter 2026/27.
We will post key updates on this webpage as the project progresses.
