A £7.8 million fund to support Local Authorities with the new
staff and expertise needed to kickstart woodland creation and
tree planting plans is now open.
The Woodland
Creation Accelerator Fund will provide at least 50 Local
Authorities with financial support to bring on board the
professional expertise they need to drive tree planting and
woodland creation commitments. Delivered by the Forestry
Commission in partnership with Defra as part of the £750 million
Nature for Climate Fund, successful applicants to the fund will
be awarded up to £150,000 each.
Available to Local Authorities across England, newly trained or
employed staff could include project managers, woodland creation
officers, community engagement officers, funding consultants, or
specialist advisors, such as landscape architects or
archaeologists. Together, the staff will focus on developing
planting plans and applications for capital funding in 2023/2024
and 2024/2025, speeding up the delivery of new woodlands. This
will help to ensure communities across England benefit from being
close to nature, which will boost health and wellbeing, create
new places for biodiversity to thrive and contribute to wider
Government efforts to treble tree planting rates in England by
the end of this Parliament.
Sir William Worsley, Forestry Commission Chair,
said:
By investing in tree planting and woodland creation, local
authorities can play a pivotal role in addressing the twin crises
of climate change and biodiversity loss.
The Woodland Creation Accelerator Fund will help local
authorities across England to turn aspirations into actions. This
fund will help to increase the number of trained and experienced
staff and expand our nation’s much-loved treescapes so everyone
can benefit from the social, environmental and economic benefits
they bring.
Hannah Bartram, Chief Executive Officer of the
Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and
Transport (ADEPT), said:
Local authorities are critical to the delivery of the UK’s
transition to a cleaner, greener future. To succeed, we need to
invest in our green infrastructure, including planting trees at
scale, helping to tackle climate change and the biodiversity
crisis.
ADEPT is delighted to be supporting the launch of the Woodland
Creation Accelerator Fund, which is designed to support local
authorities by increasing their capacity for specialist skills,
helping them to accelerate their tree and woodland planting
plans.
All upper tier authorities (county councils, unitary councils,
London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs and combined authorities)
are eligible to apply. Local Authorities will be invited to
outline the measures they propose to increase capacity and in
return identify the area of new woodland or numbers of trees they
will commit to plant by the 2024/25 winter planting season.
The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 8 July 2022.
On Tuesday
21 June, ADEPT and the Forestry Commission will host a webinar
for Local Authorities to explain more about the fund and the
application process.
For more information and guidance on how to complete an
application, go to Woodland
Creation Accelerator Fund on GOV.UK or read the
Forestry Commission’s blog.
Background
- Local Authorities must be registered with the Defra
eTendering Portal to be able to complete an application.
- Local Authorities will also be asked about their recruitment
and legacy plans as part of their applications.
The Nature for Climate Fund:
- The England Trees Action Plan committed to treble tree
planting rates in England by the end of this Parliament,
supported by more than £750 million through the Nature for
Climate Fund to be spent by 2025 on peat restoration, woodland
creation and management – above and beyond what was promised in
the manifesto.
