Community action/Bedfordshire

The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN) is a registered charity which manages 126 nature reserves covering 3,945 hectares (15.23 square miles). It has over 35,000 members, and 95% of people in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire live within five miles of a reserve. As of 31 March 2016 it employed 105 people and had an income of £5.1 million. It aims to conserve wildlife, inspire people to take action for wildlife, offer advice and share knowledge. The WTBCN is one of 36 wildlife trusts covering England, and 46 covering the whole of the United Kingdom.

The Forest of Marston Vale is an evolving community forest in Marston Vale, which runs south west from the towns of Bedford and Kempston in Bedfordshire, England, towards the M1 motorway. It is operated by a registered charity called the Forest of Marston Vale Trust.

The vale is traditionally a brickmaking area, but brickmaking industry has been running down since the 1970s. It has left a large amount of spoiled countryside containing several large empty pits some of which have now been converted into lakes. The Forest of Marston Vale is one of 12 community forest projects in the United Kingdom. It was initiated by the Countryside Agency and the Forestry Commission, in partnership with Bedfordshire County Council, Mid Bedfordshire District Council, and Bedford Borough Council. The total area covered is 61 square miles (158 km²), but most of this land is in private ownership. There are incentives for landowners to plant trees, and the target for community forests in general is to reach 30% tree cover.

The principal public open space in the Forest of Marston Vale is the Millennium Country Park which covers 1 square mile (2.5 km²) and was opened in 2000. The park features several lakes including the large Stewartby Lake and extensive wetlands. There is a visitor centre called the Forest Centre, which has a Lakeside Cafe, shop, toilets and bike rental. According to the official website the park attracts around a quarter of a million visitors a year. There are plans to create a larger park of over 3 square miles (7.8 km²) to the east of Bedford, which will be called Bedford River Valley Park.

On 26 January 2018, the Environment Agency granted a permit to Covanta Energy Limited to operate what will be the UK's largest waste incinerator, next to the forest. The effect of this development remains to be seen.

Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south-east and south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Luton.

The county has an area of 1,235 km² (477 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 749,943 in 2024. Luton is in the south of the county, and Dunstable neighbours it to the west. Leighton Buzzard is in the south-west, and Bedford in the centre-north. For local government purposes Bedfordshire comprises three unitary authority areas: Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton.

The centre of Bedfordshire is a gently undulating clay plateau, out of which rises a ridge of greensand that runs south-west to north-east and which has a distinct north-facing escarpment. The south of the county, around Luton, contains part of the chalk Chiltern Hills, and the north of the county part of a limestone ridge that runs between Milton Keynes and Northampton. The county's highest point is at 243 m (797 ft) on the Dunstable Downs, which are part of the Chilterns. The River Great Ouse flows through Bedfordshire, entering upstream of Harrold in the north-east and flowing in a circuitous but broadly southerly route to Bedford before turning north-east to exit the county upstream of St Neots in Cambridgeshire.