Correspondence

eAlert: 18 December 2019 - Apply now for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee

Published 19 December 2019

This month, we have extended the application deadline for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee. You can watch an interview with a woodland owner who has HS2 woodland funding, ensure you know about the updated rules for remedial action. The low risk map for woodland creation has been updated, find out more about what this means, remember to submit your draft woodland management plan by 31 December and find out about our Christmas support arrangements for the Felling Licence online service and the Land Information search.

1. Apply now for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee

In order to take part in the first auction, you need to submit your application by 17 January 2020.

In November we launched the Woodland Carbon Guarantee, the first auction will be held from 12 pm (midday) on Monday 20 January 2020 to 12 pm (midday) on Friday 31 January 2020.

Having spoken to our customers, we know the Christmas period is a busy one, so we have moved back the application deadline from Friday 10 January to Friday 17 January 2020, to give you a little more time to apply. Putting your application together may be simpler than you think as you don’t need an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in place, you just need to be registered with the Woodland Carbon Code and have the information required to make your carbon calculation. Your application for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee can also be made in advance of any other grant applications. We are also now able to confirm that the funding available through this first auction will be up to £10 million, so this represents a great opportunity to help kick-start and fund you woodland creation project.

If you have any queries about applying, we’d encourage you to pick up the phone this week or drop us an email to discuss your application.

Please complete your application and return it to us as early as possible to ensure it can be processed in time for the auction.

If you have any further questions about your application you can email us at wcag@forestrycommission.gov.uk or call our advice line: 0300 067 4822.

2. Start the new year with an application to the HS2 Woodland Fund

Apply now!

The next application assessment deadline for the HS2 Woodland Fund is Friday 24 January 2020. Applying before then means you could have your woodland creation or PAWS restoration agreement in place by spring or early summer 2020, in plenty of time for planting next winter. We will be publishing the 2020/21 application assessment deadlines early in the new year. If you would like to hear more from a woodland owner who has received funding from the HS2 Woodland Fund - watch our video below: an interview with David Harding, new woodland owner and recipient of funding from the HS2 Woodland Fund.

An interview with David Harding, new woodland owner and recipient of funding from the HS2 Woodland Fund.

3. Do you have an EWGS legacy grant? Does your woodland need remedial action?

The rules for remedial action have been refreshed – find out how they are applied to your agreement.

Sometimes woodlands are identified as needing remedial action to ensure they are still complying with the rules of the grant agreement, this could be identified by a Rural Payments Agency Inspector during a site inspection or by a Forestry Commission Woodland officer on a routine site visit. As the rules have recently been refreshed our guidance for Woodland Officers has also been updated. If you are a woodland owner or agent, please ensure you are aware of how these rules are applied to your Forestry Commission legacy agreement.

• agreement holders will only be given the opportunity to undertake remedial action when it is timely and appropriate to do so. Normally this will be in the first five years of an agreement commencing

• a maximum amount of time will be allowed to correct any issues found at inspection or site visits. This will be agreed with your Forestry commission representative. For example a maximum of 3 months will be allowed for repairing damaged fences or replacing missing items such as picnic tables, signs etc.

• agreement holders will be allowed one opportunity to bring a scheme up to the required standard

• during this remedial period we reserve the right to withhold any further payments

• if work is not completed to our satisfaction within the designated time, we may seek the recover all grant payments still in obligation

We will shortly be releasing a new Operations Note to provide more details on the changes to remedial action. We will share this with you in a future eAlert and publish it on the Operations Notes collection page on GOV.UK.

4. Update to our low risk map for woodland creation in England

We have revised our map to reflect changes in a number of other component data sets.

The Low Risk map for woodland creation in England, shown on the Forestry Commission’s map browser, was updated on 13 December 2019. The revised area of Low Risk land (where different EIA processes and thresholds apply to woodland creation) is 3.2 million hectares compared with 5.6 million hectares in the previous version. The changes reflect updates to a number of the component data sets, including acid vulnerable catchments, Priority Habitat Inventory and extent of peaty soils; a buffer has also been introduced for Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to avoid the impact of afforestation proposals immediately adjacent to designated sites not being fully considered. The changes also take account of new afforestation which has occurred since the original map was published in 2017. However, the largest change results from a change in the way that best and most versatile agricultural land is represented.

The revised map will be applied to all afforestation proposals currently being assessed by the Forestry Commission under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations; woodland officers may be in touch with you if these changes have a significant impact on how your application may be progressed, or if there is a need for you to provide further information. The updated Low Risk map will apply to all future woodland creation proposals, so if you have been planning a project but have not yet discussed it with us, you may want to recheck the Low Risk map for changes directly affecting your plans.

5. Don’t forget to get your Woodland Management Plan approved

Submit your draft plan by 31 December 2019.

If you are planning to apply for the Countryside Stewardship Woodland Improvement Grant (part of Higher Tier) next year, you will need a Forestry Commission approved Woodland Management Plan to be in place before you can apply. Submit your draft Woodland Management Plan to the Forestry Commission by 31 December 2019 to get it approved in time.

6. Christmas support for Felling Licence online and the Land Information Search

How we are offering support over the Christmas period.

Felling Licence Online The Felling Licence online mailbox will not be monitored from 20 December 2019 to 6 January 2020. We will ensure that the Felling Licence Online service is available for you to use during this period but any queries will be answered on or shortly after 6 January 2020.

Land Information Search The support mailbox for the Land Information Search will not be monitored from 23 December 2019 to 2 January 2020. We will ensure that the system is available for you to use during this period. We will answer any queries shortly after 2 January 2020.