Since its inception, the Community Forest's Programme has worked to a consistent set of objectives across all 12 Forest areas.

Community Forest objectives

Fourteen objectives for 'creating Community Forests' were agreed by the department for the Environment and the Treasury at the start of the programme. They remain the overarching objectives for the Programme, although they have now been broken down further into the 17 objectives below:
  1. To regenerate the environment of the Green Belt and equivalent areas, where it is public policy to keep it open, and help to ensure that it is permanently green and open. 
  2. To improve the landscape of the area, including reclamation of derelict land, to create a visually exciting and functionally diverse environment. 
  3. To increase opportunities for sport and recreation, including artistic and cultural events, and access. 
  4. To protect areas of high quality landscape or historical or archaeological interest. 
  5. To protect sites of nature conservation value and create new opportunities for nature conservation. 
  6. To provide new opportunities for educational use of the area, and ensure the mosaic of habitats in the forest can be used for the full range of environmental education needs of the surrounding schools. Also to ensure that urban schools are not disadvantaged in meeting the needs of the National Curriculum. 
  7. To protect the best agricultural land and increase opportunities for farm diversification elsewhere in accordance with Government agricultural and local planning policies. 
  8. To establish a supply of timber and other woodland products. 
  9. To achieve a high level of local community commitment to the concept and involvement in its implementation. 
  10. To give public and private sector confidence in the long-term prospects for the area and to provide a proper base for investment.
  11. To improve the environment near housing and local industry and to increase the value of properties and businesses. 
  12. To seek private sector support to implement the forest and to invest in leisure and other relevant service sectors. 
  13. To create jobs in the new woodland industries, both management of woodland and use of the raw materials.
  14. To create jobs in the leisure industry developed in and around the Community Forest.
  15. To sustain other local jobs by providing an outstanding environment as a comparative economic advantage over competitor areas. 
  16. To complement the Government's priorities for inner cities, by providing for associated leisure and open space needs at the physically closest locations.
  17. To remain flexible in the light of changes, such as in the leisure market.