In common with most organisations dealing with the effects of COVID-19, the Forestry Commission is following government guidance and taking all steps necessary to protect our staff and help prevent the spread of the virus.
We know that many people rely on our services. We aim to continue our normal operational work as far as it is safe to do so - both for us and others.
As the situation continues to develop, we will keep our operations and advice under review in light of any new advice from government.
Please be aware that in common with other public service organisations, we expect that increased staff absences caused by COVID-19 will inevitably reduce our capacity over the coming weeks and months, despite our best efforts to minimise any disruption. We will use contingency planning to maintain our statutory and customer-facing activities and will publish any updates on changes on GOV.UK.
Office closures
- National Office (Bristol)
- Area Offices: Yorkshire and North East Area (York), North West and West Midlands Area (Penrith), East and East Midlands Area (Santon Downham), South East and London (Farnham) and South West (Bullers Hill)
- Admin Hubs: East of England (Bucks Horn Oak) and West of England and Dedications (Bullers Hill - Haldon Forest)
Site visits and operations
Site visits have been suspended. This will be reviewed as government advice changes. The suspension also applies to site visits for grant applications. If you have recently submitted a claim, we will contact you directly once we have finalised our position.
We will continue to support the forestry sector by processing felling licences online. If COVID-19 restrictions continue, we will investigate ways to continue this service without the need for site visits. Work on illegal felling will continue, so please provide reports of anything suspicious via email to your local area office.
Grant claims will be processed, although this may take a little longer than usual, so please bear with us.
The site suspension does not apply to critical tree health work, which is outlined further below (in the Plant health forestry section of this page).
