Bradford Environmental Action Trust is a charity that works to create a healthy, sustainable environment to improve the quality of life for people in Bradford and the wider Yorkshire region.

The Trust’s major initiative, Forest of Bradford, began in 1998 with the aim of creating 480 hectares of woodland (equivalent to one million trees) in partnership with local communities. To date, volunteers have planted almost 500,000 trees and shrubs in more than 350 locations.

As part of this wider initiative, the trust embarked on a project to identify, document and safeguard small ancient woodlands of less than two hectares. These smaller woodlands had not been covered in previous surveys of local woodlands.

Volunteers were recruited and trained by a project coordinator to carry out desk research to identify the location of the woodlands and undertake surveys on site. They produced a booklet at the end of the project to record and share the findings of the surveys. The volunteers also learned woodland management skills and carried out practical conservation work in the woodlands surveyed.

Local people of all ages came forward to volunteer through community organisations such as Volunteering Bradford and Help the Aged. Many had not been involved in working with natural heritage previously.