Guidance

Definition of trees and woodland

Guidance on the Forestry Commission’s interpretation of trees and woodland for the purposes of felling licences and forestry environmental impact assessments.

• From: Forestry Commission
• Published: 15 January 2024
• Last updated: 11 July 2025
  Show all updates

  1. 11 July 2025

     Added bamboo to the list in section 3.2.

  2. 11 March 2025

     Added palm trees to the list of non-tree species exemptions.

  3. 25 October 2024

     Changed footnotes linked to the UK Forestry Standard, from 4th to 5th edition.

  4. 21 August 2024

     Scenario 1 in section 5.6 was amended to confirm an EIA is not required.

  5. 15 January 2024

     First published.

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

Documents

Definition of trees and woodland

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Details

This page outlines the Forestry Commission’s interpretation of “tree” and “woodland”.