Ruislip Woods Trust (RWT) has for many years had serious concerns over London Borough of Hillingdon’s (LBH) management of the Ruislip Woods National Nature Reserve (NNR) and especially following the retirement of The Woodland Officer in December 2023 which has left just one Woodland Ranger to deliver both the Long Term and 5 year Plans with the help of the Woodland volunteers.
In February 2025 we notified LBH that we are prepared to investigate partnerships with other organisations to help manage the NNR, however having heard nothing we convened a meeting at the Woodland Centre on 13th June 2025. Below is a list of the people who attended:
- Anand Punja, Mark Morgan, and Susan Seagroatt – Ruislip Woods Trustees
- Bassam Mahfouz – London Assembly Environment Committee Member
- A Senior Programme & Policy Officer Environment for the GLA
- Bridget Fox – Woodland Trust Regional External Affairs Officer
- LBH officer involved in Planning and Biodiversity
The meeting started with a guided walk around Park Wood where attendees were shown examples of previous coppicing and some of the grassland along the old pylon ride. Also shown was what we believe to be the oldest tree in the NNR and the Park Pale, a man-made medieval earthwork to mark the boundary of the ancient deer park. All of those in attendance were impressed by the small part of Ruislip Woods that they were shown.
We returned to the Woodland Centre (refurbished by RWT in 2021) to discuss how to move forward to maintain and improve the NNR for wildlife and visitors. Initially the discussion focussed on the reduction in staffing over the past 13 years, in 2012 the Green Spaces budget was £93K and 4 full time members of staff were employed, now there is only 1 employed Woodland Ranger to manage the volunteers to carry out the necessary work and there is no specific budget for the Woods as it is included in the much larger one for Green Spaces.
The Long-Term Management Plan adopted by the Council in 1982 was discussed together with the recently published 5-year Management Plan along with the noncompliance with Natural England’s National Nature Reserve Management Standards, it was agreed that not all of this cannot be achieved with 1 member of Council employed Woodland staff and volunteers. LBH do realise that they cannot deliver what is needed with the present set up, but the Trust needs a definitive written request from them before we can take on the task of finding suitable partners.
Bridget Fox from the Woodland Trust said that they could work with LBH but would need a Partnership Agreement, there are others that RWT have identified who can help and would need the same. We advised all those present that we would like to have a forward-thinking discussion with Hillingdon Council to fully explore their existing problem and collaborate to deliver a long-term solution for the management of the Woods.
The GLA Member and Programme Officer advised that the Mayor of London has launched a Green Roots fund which pulls together other grants for the environment. They spoke about grants from other organisations like the Forestry Commission and highlighted one in particular from the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier which provides financial support to land managers for projects that protect, restore, and enhance the environment.
The NNR qualifies and the payment for this one alone would be a minimum of £127 per hectare per year for 10 years. The NNR covers 305 hectares so this would amount to approximately £38K per year for the next 10 years, clearly a lot of important practical work could be done using this funding alone.
Following the meeting the GLA contacted both the Forestry Commission who put together a briefing note detailing over . grants which LBH would be eligible to apply for and also Natural England who confirmed that LBH would be on a priority. pipeline to take part in Defra’s Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELM). Both organisations have advised that the. would be prepared to meet both the Trust and Hillingdon Council to find a way forward.
The RWT Trustees are pleased that they called this meeting in June 2025 and grateful to Bassam Mahfouz and the Programme Officer for supporting us together with providing all of the comprehensive information concerning the financial help that is currently available for the Woods. Having done so are reassured that there is funding out there to safeguard and improve the NNR.
The decision on how to proceed with or without the Trusts assistance and what grant aid they are prepared to apply for now lies with Hillingdon Council.
If you wish to keep up to date with what is going on in Ruislip Woods and perhaps consider joining the Trust to support what we do, please visit our website. There is strength in numbers as each member adds weight to our campaigns.
Members receive 3 newsletters per year, and our walks are free. Alternatively you can email the secretary at Secretary@ruislipwoodstrust.org.uk
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