Our Services
Woodland Grants
Woodland creation and management
Planting the right trees in the right places for the right reasons can provide far-reaching benefits for your farm business. With financial incentives available and expert support on hand, woodland creation can help you diversify, generate reliable revenue streams and deliver environmental benefits that support your wider land management goals.
Woodland Creation Planning Grant
Landowners, land managers and public bodies (other than Forestry England) can apply to the Forestry Commission to support the design of new woodland under the Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG).
You can apply for £1,500 to complete Stage 1 of the Woodland Creation Planning Grant application and plan. This is focused on a desk-based exercise to identify the constraints and opportunities that may affect the proposed planting. If there is potential for woodland creation to take place on the site, you will be offered a Stage 2 payment. Stage 2 offers funding at a rate of £150 per hectare, minus the £1,500 paid at Stage 1, to complete Stage 2 of the Woodland Creation Planning Grant application and plan.
- You may get supplementary payments for specialist survey work if a need for them is identified at Stage 1.
- You will never be paid less than £1,500 for approve Stage 1 work and a minimum of £500 for approved Stage 2 work.
- The total amount of funding you can receive is capped at £30,500 per project.
Applying for a Woodland Creation Planning agreement
If you are interested in applying for a Woodland Creation Planning grant agreement, our Stewardship & Grants team are available to advise and support you with the application, including completing the application forms and stage 1 checks on your behalf.
For further advice or help with applying, please contact our Stewardship & Grants Team on 01981 590514.
English Woodland Creation Offer
Landowners, land managers and public bodies can apply to the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) for support to create new woodland, including through natural colonisation, on areas as small as one hectare.
There are 5 types of payment available under EWCO:
- Support for the capital items and activities to establish new woodland, with payments covering 100% of standard costs (the national average).
- 15 years of annual maintenance payments to help establish the young trees once the capital works are complete.
- A contribution towards the actual cost of installing infrastructure to either enable the current and future management of the woodland, or to provide recreational access.
- Optional Additional Contributions where the location of the woodland and its design will deliver public benefits. You can apply for multiple Additional Contributions on the same land where the woodland is in the right location and the design will provide multiple public benefits.
- An optional low sensitivity land payment where the proposal falls within a low sensitivity area for woodland creation.
Applying for an English Woodland Creation Offer agreement
If you are interested in applying for the English Woodland Creation Offer, our Stewardship & Grants team are available to advise and support you with the application, including completing the application forms and consultations on your behalf.
For further advice or help with applying, please contact our Stewardship & Grants Team on 01981 590514.
