Native woodlands have always been important to Friends of the Lake District as they are an ancient and iconic part of this landscape; create habitats for wildlife; and protect the ground from erosion. We have planted over 10,000 native trees, creating new native woodlands at High Borrowdale, Staveley, Eskdale, Oxenholme and in 2014-15 at Grasmere.

All through the 1930s the Friends campaigned against large scale planting of acres of non-native conifer trees across Cumbria by the Forestry Commission.

Today we work positively with the Forestry Commission to replace conifer plantations with native trees, creating better habitats for wildlife, and protecting soil from erosion.