Government officials have confirmed plans to construct “forest cities” within a new national forest stretching between Oxford and Cambridge.
The announcement is part of the government’s broader ambition to create an “Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor” that connects the university towns and facilitates innovation. It also aims to address environmental concerns about the impact of development on green spaces.
Alongside new towns, homes, and railway connections, the government will fund tree planting to create a new forest within a ten-minute walk of homes in the corridor, though its exact boundaries remain undefined.
During a speech in January, the UK’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined the goal of transforming the region between Oxford and Cambridge into “Europe’s Silicon Valley” by investing in rail connections, building new homes, and attracting research and development activity. Proposed infrastructure in the region could add around £78 billion to the British economy, by some estimates.
The government’s forest announcement seeks to balance such concerns with its economic strategy. Environmental groups have criticised similar proposals since the late 2010s, expressing reservations about their climate effects on the climate and potential regional inequality.
Emma Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, said: “Our ambitious tree planting programme will help unlock growth, restore nature and create green jobs for the future.”
Plans for two other national forests are underway, including the Western Forest between the Cotswolds and the Mendips, which the government announced in March. A competition next year will decide the location of a third forest in northern England.
The forestry plans coincide with Keir Starmer’s presentation at COP30 in Brazil this week, where he is expected to call for a greener economy. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has also estimated that planting millions of trees could help create and support around 14,000 jobs.
Environmental groups remain somewhat sceptical of the scheme. Abi Bunker, Director of Nature Recovery at the Woodland Trust, said: “As global climate negotiations at COP30 begin in Brazil, and the world is focused on how we can protect the world’s most valuable remaining forests, this feels like a lost opportunity to demonstrate domestic leadership in the protection and restoration of the UK’s own precious temperate rainforests.”
The forest cities plan is one of several ongoing government initiatives to promote science and technology in Oxfordshire. Other projects include the development of a 221-acre site next to the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, as well as the conversion of an abandoned Debenhams building in central Oxford into a laboratory.
