UK-based real assets fund manager True North Real Asset Partners is to plant a 290-ha forest on the Greencroft Estate in Lanchester, creating England’s largest contiguous commercial forest since the 1980s.
Following a Forestry Commission’s approval, True North’s Forestry Carbon Sequestration Fund II fund is advancing its Greencroft Forest Park in County Durham planting project, starting with site preparation this summer and tree planting in winter 2025.
Greencroft Forest Park will house a mixed productive forest comprising 31 different species and 600,000 individual trees on a site roughly equivalent in size to 185 football pitches.
The forest planting project is expected to sequester 70,500 tonnes of carbon and result in biodiversity gains, including the formation of new habitats for local wildlife, and improvements to soil health, water quality and air purity.
Harry Humble, CEO of True North, said: “We are delighted that consent has been granted for the Greencroft Forest Park. It is a historic moment for the county.
“We have invested heavily in understanding the ecology and heritage of the estate and canvassing local opinion. All of this informs the final design that has now been approved.”
Humble said the “massive amount of carbon captured by the project is not being sold for credits” and the project is built on its value as a source of commercial timber to help decarbonise the future of the building industry.
“New productive forests, such as Greencroft, give confidence to companies like ours and reinforce our decision to locate the UK’s most state-of-the-art sawmill in Durham,” he said.
“With the UK government now committed to the timber-in-construction roadmap, which makes increasing the sustainable supply of homegrown timber a priority, we hope to see more projects like Greencroft being approved.”
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