Project partners

The Lost Woods of the Low Weald and Downs team is made up of staff and volunteers from four partner charities: Action in Rural Sussex, Small Woods Association, Sussex Wildlife Trust and The Woodland Trust.

By working closely together, and sharing our expertise with local landowners and community groups, we will help to restore woodlands in the project area.

Action in Rural Sussex (AirS)

AirS is an independent charity established in 1931 that exists for all people living in rural areas of Sussex but especially those who are at risk of isolation and/or disadvantage.

Our vision is for a thriving rural Sussex, full of choice and opportunities for everyone, regardless of their circumstances.

For the Lost Woods project, AirS is leading on community engagement including:

Supporting people from disadvantaged communities in Sussex to access woodlands through running a number of projects that work directly with local community groups
Supporting conservation, sustainability and wildlife groups in the Lost Woods area to grow their membership, training opportunities and plan for the future
Recruiting volunteers to work on community activities and woodland restoration projects

©AirS

©EmmaGoldsmith/ Small Woods Association

Small Woods Association

Small Woods are the UK association for woodland stewardship and care. We believe in the environmental, social, economic and cultural benefits of bringing woodlands & people together. We enable more sustainable woodland management by supporting networks of woodland owners and managers with our knowledge and advice.

The Small Woods Association is leading on training for the Lost Woods project, including:

Training courses in woodland management for landowners, woodland workers, members of the public and apprentices ‍
Green woodworking courses for members of the public to learn heritage craft skills using local sustainable materials

Sussex Wildlife Trust

Sussex Wildlife Trust is an independent charity, and with over 39,000 members is the largest local organisation dedicated to protecting the wildlife and natural environment across Sussex. We want Sussex to be a home for nature's recovery.

We manage over 30 nature reserves and we also lead flagship, landscape projects such as Wilder Ouse, Wilder Horsham District and Sussex Kelp Recovery.

Sussex Wildlife Trust is leading on wilder woodland management training for the Lost Woods project, including:

Wilder Woodland workshops on more natural approaches to woodland management
Courses for landowners and woodland workers on marketing woodland products
Leaky dam training for schools and community groups

©BenLee/ WTML

The Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, with over 500,000 supporters. We want to see a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, and we’re passionate about the role that trees and woods can play in tackling the threats of climate change and nature loss.

For the Lost Woods project, we are leading on:

Restoring and reconnecting ancient woodland, working with landowners across the project area
A pioneering volunteer-led project to identify every single ancient and veteran tree in the project area, to help conserve these irreplaceable habitats for future generations
Running forest school training and the John Muir Award for local schools, as well as offering woodland storytelling activities