Heartwood Forest facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Heartwood Forest |
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 Heartwood Forest
Location in Hertfordshire
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| Location | Sandridge, England |
| Nearest city | St. Albans |
| Governing body | Woodland Trust |
Heartwood Forest is a huge new forest in Hertfordshire, England. It's the largest new native forest in England, covering about 347 hectares (that's like 857 football fields!). It was created by the Woodland Trust to bring more nature back to the area.
Contents
How Heartwood Forest Was Planted
Heartwood Forest is located near Sandridge and St Albans. Before it became a forest, most of this land was used for farming, mainly growing oilseed rape. Only a small part of the area, about 18 hectares, was old, original forest.
The name "Heartwood" was chosen because of the special lime trees found in the ancient parts of the forest. These trees have heart-shaped leaves!
Setting a Tree-Planting Record
On December 9, 2009, something exciting happened at Heartwood Forest. People tried to set a Guinness World Record for planting the most trees in just one hour! This event was part of a BBC project called Tree O'clock.
Three places in the UK tried to break the record: Heartwood Forest, Hainault Forest, and Gransha Park. The old record was 18,124 trees planted in an hour. Heartwood Forest did an amazing job, planting 20,326 trees! However, Gransha Park planted even more, over 26,000 trees, and took the record that day.
The forest officially opened to the public on March 25, 2018. Over ten years, about 45,000 volunteers helped plant trees. This included 17,000 school children! Together, they planted a total of 600,000 trees.
What You'll Find in the Forest
The original old forest areas at Heartwood were mostly bluebell woods, famous for their beautiful blue flowers in spring. The new parts of the forest were planted with native British trees. These include strong oak trees, tall hornbeams, graceful birches, and flexible willows.
The Community Orchard
There's also a special community orchard with over 600 fruit trees. These trees grow old types of apples, pears, and cherries that are native to Hertfordshire.
The Arboretum
Heartwood Forest has a unique arboretum. An arboretum is like a living museum for trees. This one has an example of all 57 native British tree species. It's the only collection like it in the whole UK!
Besides trees, the forest also has open grassy areas and colorful wildflower meadows.
Amazing Wildlife
One of the main reasons for creating Heartwood Forest was to help nature and increase biodiversity. Biodiversity means having many different kinds of plants and animals in one place.
The Woodland Trust keeps a close eye on the wildlife in the forest. They found that between 2010 and 2016, as the forest grew, the number of many animal species more than doubled!
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Some exciting visitors returned to the area after ten years, like short-eared owls and barn owls. Also, completely new species started to appear. By 2017, the Woodland Trust had recorded:
- 87 different kinds of birds
- 62 types of small mammals
- 27 different butterfly species
Visiting Heartwood Forest
Heartwood Forest is open to everyone, and it's free to visit! There are clear trails and paths for walking. You can also ride your bicycle or even horses on some of the routes. In 2019, about 140,000 people visited the forest. It's a great place to explore nature and enjoy the outdoors.
