Salts Wood creates 33-acre community woodland in Kent
If you live in Boughton Monchelsea, Kent, you now have a newly planted woodland to walk, learn and breathe in: Salts Wood. Spread across 33 acres and planted with 22,000 native trees, it includes hard‑surfaced paths that loop the site so more of us-pushchairs, wheelchairs and tired legs included-can spend time among young trees as they take root.
Salts Wood is a woodland creation project, which means people have established new woodland where there wasn’t one before. Here the focus is on native species-trees that belong to this part of England-because they suit local soils and support the insects and birds already living nearby. A quick definition: native simply means a species has grown here naturally for a long time, so wildlife is adapted to it.
Accessibility isn’t an afterthought here. The hard paths circle the woods, giving a clear, dependable route in all seasons. That matters whether you’re visiting with a mobility aid, a pushchair, or you simply want a surface that won’t turn to mud after rain. What this means: more residents can visit in all weather, including people who might otherwise be excluded from green spaces.
For the community, this becomes a shared green space rather than a distant reserve. It’s a place to stretch your legs after school or work, to meet neighbours in daylight rather than online, and to build small daily routines-ten minutes around the loop, a weekend tidy, a quiet sit at the wood’s edge-that add up to better wellbeing.
As the saplings grow, they’ll offer shelter, shade and food for local wildlife. Native trees are better hosts: their leaves feed more caterpillars, their flowers suit local pollinators, and their seeds and berries help birds through the year. Put simply, planting local supports everything else local.
New woodland also helps with the bigger picture. Trees draw carbon from the air as they grow, while roots and fallen leaves help soils hold water. You won’t see an instant forest, but you will see stages: guards protecting baby trees now, small thickets in a few years, and a more complex wood as the decades roll on.
For teachers and students, Salts Wood is an outdoor classroom you can reach without a coach trip. You can map the seasons, practise field sketches, count species, record birdsong, or try a simple soil test after rain. Learning in a real place turns terms like ‘native’ and ‘canopy’ into things you can point at.
According to a UK government case study shared by Andy Humphryes, vice chair of Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council, Salts Wood was planted for people and wildlife to enjoy together. If you visit, stick to the paths, take litter home and keep dogs close during nesting season-small habits that protect young trees and everyone’s time outside.