Landmark £15 million woodland creation grant opens for applications
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New scheme provides greater financial incentives for woodland
creation, with £15.9m available in its first year Greater
flexibility and recognition of the benefits woodland can provide
for people and wildlife by offering additional incentives to ensure
the right tree is planted in the right place for the right reason
The Forestry Commission has today opened a new multimillion tree
planting grant scheme – the England Woodland Creation Offer - to
provide greater...Request free trial
The Forestry Commission has today opened a new multimillion
tree planting grant scheme – the England Woodland Creation Offer
- to provide greater financial incentives for landowners and
farmers to plant and manage trees.
“This exciting new grant offer is flexible to allow landowners to create a woodland that meets their own objectives. From planting a small one hectare block, a strip of trees along rivers to reduce flood risk, to large mixed woodlands. This improved grant gives everyone the opportunity to see woodland creation as a financially and environmentally rewarding option. This will help with our journey to reach net zero by 2050.” Environment Secretary, George Eustice, said: “Our ambition is not just to treble tree planting rates by the end of Parliament but to create diverse treescapes across the country which benefit wildlife, the environment and people. “This grant, backed by £15.9 million in its first year, provides an exciting range of options for farmers and landowners so they can plant and manage trees in a way that meets their individual needs and ambition. “From planting trees along rivers to reduce flood risk and improve water quality, to creating habitat for woodland dependent species, and improving public access – this grant will help deliver the woodlands of the future.” Recognising the manifold benefits that trees bring, the new grant scheme will support diverse woodland types at different scales (from a minimum size woodland of just 1 hectare per application and 0.1 hectare per block). The grant will continue the current approach of focusing funding predominantly on the creation of native broadleaf woodlands at a large scale, but also supporting well-designed majority conifer and mixed woodlands, providing scope for well-designed productive forestry to grow alongside significant increases in majority broadleaf woodland. The England Woodland Creation Offer also addresses wider barriers to woodland creation, by improving regulatory processes, consultation arrangements and advice and guidance as part of the application process. Today’s announcement follows the publication of the England Trees Action Plan. This was announced through the Environment Secretary’s recent speech from Delamere Forest where he outlined plans to treble tree planting rates in England during this Parliament, funded through an expected £500 million from the Nature for Climate Fund. Also recently announced, the Tree Health Pilot is taking action against pests and diseases which attack our trees, woods and forests. Apply for the England Woodland Creation Offer here. Stakeholder quotes: John Deakin, Head of Trees and Woodland at National Trust, said: “We welcome the financial support this scheme providesfor woodland creation. Only by establishing these types of landscapes will we deliver the benefits for climate, nature and people that will ensure we move away from a segmented landscape to one that offers positives for society as well as much-needed economic investment for the rural economy.” Mark Lloyd, CEO of The Rivers Trust, said: “The launch of the new England Woodland Creation Offer by Forestry Commission is very welcome and could make a real difference to river health and the resilience of our catchments. The Rivers Trust network looks forward to helping make it a reality. Planting the right trees in the right places is a vital action that could address a myriad of issues if it’s done with careful consideration of the ecological and hydrological factors at play on a catchment scale. It’s also essential that the scheme is easy to use for landowners, farmers and delivery partners. The measure of success will be the quality, not the quantity, of the tree planting that results from this new funding.” Dr Adrian Southern, Head of Landscape Delivery at the Woodland Trust, said: “We are delighted with the news of extra funding through the new England Woodland Creation Offer and especially the additional financial contributions that will support trees near rivers and water catchments. We are really interested to see tree planting on a whole landscape scale, where trees can bring widespread benefits from combating flooding, helping to maintain water temperature in rivers, improving water quality and of course soaking up harmful carbon to combat climate change.” James Wallace, Chief Executive of Beaver Trust, said: “The new England Woodland Creation Offer will incentivise landowners and empower local communities to build climate resilience and restore wildlife. EWCO is a welcome first step towards whole river catchment restoration. Through strong collaboration we can create a national nature recovery network of mosaic habitats from woodlands and meadows to wetlands and even beaver ponds. Together we will help breathe life back into our rivers and land.” Caroline Ayre, England National Manager at Confor, said: “The forestry sector welcomes the England Woodland Creation Offer. Ambitious targets for tree planting have been set and society’s insatiable demand for wood products, from timber to clothing and paper, means that, more than ever, we need purposeful, well designed and managed productive new woodland. Woodland that will help to sustain and grow resilient rural businesses and diverse landscapes. “We look forward to working with the Forestry Commission to deliver the England Tree Planting Programme through the England Woodland Creation Offer, to ensure that we allow land managers and farmers to create a legacy not a liability for future generations.” ENDS. Notes to editors:
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