Correspondence

eAlert: 14 December 2022

Published 16 December 2022

Applies to England

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

Today (14 December 2022) learn more about Richard Stanford, Forestry Commission Chief Executive, calling for a new approach to trees and forestry in England. Listen to our new podcast ‘Meet the Farmers’, read a new blog post ‘Reflecting on a decade of ash dieback response in the UK’ and other recent updates.

1. Richard Stanford gives major speech at the Confor conference

Find out why he is calling for a new approach to how we view trees and forestry in England.

On Thursday 8 December Richard Stanford, Forestry Commission Chief Executive, spoke at the Confor conference, calling for a new approach to how we view trees and forestry in England.
 
Richard spoke about many topics including the economic benefits provided by forestry, how we are addressing the challenge of increasing tree planting rates and woodland creation and about the need for well planned mixed woodlands.
 
To read more please see the press release: Forestry Commission Chief Executive calls for a new mindset in our approach to trees.

Well-managed broadleaf woodlands provide habitat for a vast array of flora and fauna. Conifers and mixed woodland also contribute to biodiversity. - Richard Stanford, Forestry Commission Chief Executive.

2. Forestry Commission team up with Ben Eagle for the ‘Meet the Farmers’ podcast

Listen to the podcast.

We’ve teamed up with rural affairs journalist and podcaster Ben Eagle, to produce a podcast series about trees on farms with suggestions on how farmers can make the most of the opportunities available. Over three episodes on the Meet the Farmers podcast, Ben and co-host Jon Burgess, our Local Partnership Advisor and Woodland Resilience Officer for the South West, meet foresters and farmers to explore those opportunities and ask what more can be done to help farmers make the most from the trees on their land.

• Episode 1: Woodlands and Wildlife 
• Episode 2: Making Money from Trees
• Episode 3: Agroforestry and Trees in Regenerative Farming Systems

3. Reflecting on a decade of ash dieback response in the UK

See our recent blog post Reflecting on a decade of ash dieback response in the UK by Barnaby Wilder, Plant Health Forestry Lead in the North West of England. In this blog he reflects upon ten years of handling ash dieback cases, and what the future might hold for our ash trees.

4. Minimum Payment for Countryside Stewardship Woodland Improvement (WD2) Agreements

Find out how this might change your payment.

Countryside Stewardship (CS) Higher Tier (HT) option for woodland improvement (WD2) has been updated to introduce a minimum payment of £1000 for agreements starting 01/01/2023 onwards. This means that if you have between 3 and 10 hectares of WD2 in your agreement, the annual payment you’ll receive will be uplifted to a minimum of £1000.
 
We did this to incentivise smaller woodland owners to bring their land into active management and we’re pleased to see agreement offers being issued by the RPA in readiness for the agreement start the following year. Where the land falls within the said range to qualify for the minimum payment, the agreement offer will show the actual area applied for the WD2 and the payment as it was, i.e., WD2x£100, that is because we use scheme administrating system to report on actual land under the scheme. Your agreement offer will have a sentence to assure you that the minimum payment will apply:
 
“All applications of WD2 between the areas of 3ha and 10ha will be paid at the minimum amount of £1000. This document will continue to detail the applied for values and not the confirmed minimum payment value.”  
Please be assured, where applicable, minimum payment will be made accordingly.

5. Creating a Woodland Management Plan

Check this update.

If you are drafting a Woodland Management Plan (WMP) with the intention of applying for a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CS HT), we have created a new checking aid to support the process of drafting this plan. This aid will assist you in understanding what should be included to ensure you are covering all relevant information in your WMP to enable a CS HT application - as your WMP must support and validate your application.  It is available on GOV.UK: Create a woodland management plan under the section How to produce your plan.

6. Farm Woodland Scheme update

We are updating our terms and conditions and will be in touch with agreement holders.

From 1 January 2023, ‘Legacy’ Farm Woodland Schemes will no longer be funded using EU money. The move to direct Exchequer funding will give us the opportunity to relax some of the rules, but we will be required to change all agreement Terms and Conditions. The changes will be minimal, but will hopefully reduce the numbers of penalties we are required to apply, and also the number of reclaims. The revised Terms and Conditions will be available to view on GOV.UK in February 2023. We will be contacting all agreement holders and active agents with further details in the New Year.
 
We are:

• writing to all agreement holders with outstanding payments, making them aware of the change to Exchequer funding.
• following this up with letters to all active agents in the New Year.
• sending advisory letters out to all other agreement holders, whose schemes are still in Obligation. This will happen in early 2023.

More specific information will be available from mid-February onwards.

7. Problems signing Agent Authority Forms

We are working to find a solution.

We are currently experiencing a technical issue which means we are unable to process outstanding and incoming customer requests to sign our Agent Authority Form electronically. If you urgently need to sign the form please follow the guidance on the Agent Authority Form page.
 
We are sorry for the inconvenience and are working to resolve this as soon as possible.

8. Woods for Nature - Broughton Hall case study webinar

Book your place now!

Woodlands offer a unique and diverse habitat that thousands of species call home. Trees not only support wildlife – they help sustain healthy ecosystems, maintain climate regulation and protect soils - playing a key role in aiding nature’s recovery.
 
If you are a landowner interested in woodland creation, join Professor Alastair Driver to hear more about Broughton Hall’s project and how it is progressing.
 
Date: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Time: 10 – 11am

Book your ticket

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