Thames Chase Community Forest, restoring the landscape for your leisure and pleasure. Overlooking 40 square miles of countryside surrounding the London/Essex border, the Thames Chase Community Forest encompasses countryside areas situated in Barking and Dagenham, Brentwood, Havering and Thurrock.
Thames Chase Trust is an environmental charity managing and promoting the Thames Chase Community Forest (TC) – an organisation that promotes woodland creation and biodiversity and works to improve landscape, including derelict land. Key to the project is working with local communities to improve that landscape and to ensure that access to the countryside for local people and visitors, is improved.
Thames Chase (TC) was established in 1990 to improve landscapes in East London and South Essex. It is one of the 12 Community Forests set up across England to regenerate and enhance the natural environment. The forest covers 40 sq. miles in Havering, Thurrock, Barking and Dagenham and Brentwood local authority. It aims over 40 years to plant 5.5 million trees and turn 30% of the area into woodland.
TC has the potential to reach the 650,000 people who live within 10 miles or so of the community forest. The Thames Chase landscape regeneration project offers all these people better quality countryside and better access to it. It also seeks to encourage access to the countryside through good signage, leaflets, accompanied walks, and events in the countryside of all sorts. All the above is designed to encourage as many individuals and communities as possible, to get out and enjoy the countryside. Formally managed and funded by a Joint Committee of the 4 local authorities in which TC is situated and Essex County Council, Thames Chase Community Forest is now managed by the Thames Chase Trust and funded by small grants from these authorities and large grants from national and charitable organisations.