The Forestry Commission (FC) has launched their new incentive to encourage landowners to start planting more trees. With funding being withdrawn from the Nature for Climate Fund, the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) supports the establishment of new woodlands helping work towards the government’s 25-year plan. The scheme’s aim is to focus on the following:
- To prevent the increase of climate change by creating new woodlands that store carbon
- Contributing to nature recovery by creating new woodland habitat
- Improving water quality
- Reducing the risk of flooding
- Providing climate change mitigation by cooling watercourses
- Creating woodlands that are close to the public
- Increasing and improving recreational access in new woodland
- Encouraging ammonia capture to protect sensitive sites
Creating your own woodland areas can be a struggle. With resources, expenses, labour and the obligation to retain the woodland, it’s easy to understand how people would not undertake the task without the help of the grant. EWCO have promised to support woodland creation until 2024/25.
It aims to support the creation of 11,000 hectares of new woodland by 2023/24 with £15.8 million available for capital works to create woodland in 2021 and 2022. As set out in the government’s Agricultural Transition Plan, the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery Schemes will provide support for publicly funded woodland creation.
So, what are they offering? To start, base payments are improved, with the opportunity for additional support. They have also decreased the minimum area from 3 hectares down to 1 hectare allowing more people to apply. They have also adjusted the agreements to include 10 years of management payments.
Previously, woodland creation was not well supported under Countryside Stewardship Schemes (CS), only covering 80% of standard costs of resources involved, capped at a rate of £6,800 per hectare. However, the new scheme now offers those standard costs paid at 100% up to £8,500 per hectare. In addition, the landowners that join the scheme can claim supplementary contributions if the woodland area they have created reduces the risk of flooding, supports nature recovery, contributes to the improvement of water quality and improves public access by the way the woodland has been designed and the variety of species planted.
Depending on the location and design of your woodland, it should be possible in many instances to claim towards £10K/ha for woodland creation. With the reduced minimum application area, this starts to look like a more attractive proposition for more people than before.
For those who are currently applying or have agreements for woodland creations under pre-existing schemes such as CS, the FC Woodland Carbon Fund or HS2 Woodland Fund, it may be possible to transfer to the EWCO scheme to claim better funding, however, this is only allowed under certain circumstances. Basically, those who have applied to the schemes previously mentioned, but have not accepted an agreement yet, and those with an agreement who have not started work on it are eligible to transfer to EWCO. If any work has started however, things get more complicated. The Rural Payments Agency will have contacted all those who are eligible to transfer by 16 June 2021.
It appears that in 2024, Defra’s Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs) will take over as the lead public funding scheme for woodland. Parts of the ELM scheme are still being designed, but if successful, parts of the EWCO may influence how woodlands fit into the new schemes.
With the scheme offering so much help, and talk of more schemes continuing the support after 2024, it appears that the time to start designing new woodland areas is now.
To apply or for more information, follow the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/england-woodland-creation-offer-application-form