Correspondence

eAlert: 14 December 2020 - Priority open habitats

Published 10 February 2021

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

1. 15 December 2020

Read about our new guidance on priority open habitats, the launch of the UK Land Carbon Registry. Hear about the auction results from the third Woodland Carbon Guarantee. Find out how to request that Force Majeure is applied to your Legacy schemes and read about the announcements from National Tree Week. We have produced guidance on importing and exporting wood packaging material and also let you know our important Christmas closures.

2. Priority open habitats and woodland creation

New guidance now available on GOV.UK.

The Forestry Commission’s new publication Priority open habitats and woodland creation: A field guide is aimed at landowners, agents and others who have an interest in woodland creation. It is intended to support the creation of UK Forestry Standard compliant woodland by providing a better understanding of priority open habitats and their consideration.

The document includes information about the definition of a priority habitat, priority open habitats most likely to need consideration during the planning and assessment of woodland creation proposals, an insight into assessing their condition and addresses the associated surveys that may be required to establish a sites current habitat status and condition.

The information contained within the new guide accompanies the Forestry Commission’s Principles for afforestation on or near priority habitats to clarify the principles: Operations Note 043 to be adopted when considering woodland creation on or near priority habitats.

3. UK Land Carbon Registry launched

The UK Woodland Carbon Code and the UK Peatland Code have come together to form the UK Land Carbon Registry. Interest in carbon credits for both woodland and peatland schemes has grown rapidly over the past year, with many companies looking to compensate for their residual emissions through nature based solutions. This join-up will create a more accessible ‘one-stop-shop’ for woodland and peatland carbon projects. Landowners who validate their woodland or peatland restoration schemes to either standard can have all their projects and carbon units in the one place - the UK Land Carbon Registry. Carbon units can then be sold on to companies wanting to compensate for their residual emissions.

For more information visit the UK Land Carbon Registry website.

4. Woodland Carbon Guarantee – Third auction results

The third auction for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee closed on 1 November 2020.

A total of 46 projects were entered into the third auction which was a competitive process with a good range of successful participants. 31 contracts have been offered by the Forestry Commission covering 615 hectares. 22 of the successful projects are predominantly native covering 229 hectares.

The third auction encouraged a range of bids for different woodland types, with the number of successful bids increasing with each successive auction. The average price paid for WCUs in the third auction was £17.31. However, this should not be taken as a firm indicator of acceptable bids in future auctions. Applicants should be aware that the auction process is competitive and lower bids are more likely to be successful.

The date of the next auction in 2021 will be published in due course, further information about the guarantee can be found on the Woodland Carbon Guarantee GOV.UK page.

5. New request form for Force Majeure in legacy schemes

You now need to complete and send us a request form if you want to invoke the force majeure clause in your EWGS or FWPS legacy scheme.

You can request to invoke the force majeure clause if there has been an abnormal or unforeseeable circumstance outside your control which has affected your legacy scheme in such a way that it might impact your ability to meet the Terms and Conditions of the scheme or to submit a valid claim. The new request form is available on GOV.UK and you can send it to us by email or post. You need to send this to us within 15 days of being aware of the impact the unforeseen circumstance might have on your scheme, along with your supporting evidence. The new form will help us process and decide on your request more quickly. Make sure you read the information on how to complete the form.

Get in touch with the Compliance Team by emailing fs.compliance@forestrycommission.gov.uk for more information, or if you think you need to invoke the force majeure clause in your scheme then please complete and send us the form without delay.

6. National Tree Week

There were a number of announcements during National Tree week.

We thought that you might appreciate a round up of all the great things that happened, you can read about it all in Defra’s Blog: New funding for tree planting as National Tree Week comes to a close.

7. Updated guidance on importing and exporting Wood Packaging Material

If you import any goods using wood packaging material (WPM), you need to be aware of the requirements for landing them in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) after the end of the Transition Period. From 1 January 2021 all WPM moving between the UK and the EU must meet ISPM15 international standards by undergoing heat treatment and marking. All WPM may be subject to official checks either upon or after entry to the EU.

Updated guidance will be live on GOV.UK from tomorrow, 16 December 2020.

8. Christmas staff availability

As most of our staff are still working from home, we have tried to give an indication on when our services will be unavailable over the Christmas period.

Our two Administrative Hub teams will be unavailable from Thursday 24 December 2020, restarting business on Monday 4 January 2021. Post to our offices will not be opened during this time. Most of our Woodland Officers will also be unavailable during this period.

The Felling Licence Online mailbox and telephone line will not be monitored from Wednesday 23 December 2020 until our return on the 4 January 2021.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and we will look forward to getting in touch with you in the New Year.