Since early 2024, R4C has been supporting the development of the Midlands Forest Network (MFN), a bold initiative that’s aspiring to bring about new opportunities and investment for the protection, restoration and creation of woods and trees in the Midlands. It aims to create a web of connected habitats that thread through our landscapes and communities, linking existing woodlands and green initiatives, engaging people in the natural world and delivering social, environmental and economic benefits for the whole of the Midlands.
R4C was engaged in 2 separate but related activities. Firstly, this involved developing an Audience Development plan for the Network with a particular focus on making access to nature more equitable across the region and engaging a larger, more diverse, audience in nature and its associated benefits. Through this we proposed an engagement model for MFN that linked regional and local engagment actvities.
The second activity, in which we provided support, was in working with the project manager to design and facilitate a series of stakeholder workshops that enabled interested parties to contribute to the development of the MFN Strategy, a document that will be key to achieving the funding required for network development.