eAlert: 22 September 2022
Published 23 September 2022
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2022
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1. New Seed Sourcing Grant - apply now
Find out about the new grant.
Domestic tree seed production is to be ramped up with new Government funding announced today (Thursday 22 September). A £1.2m Seed Sourcing Grant will boost domestic tree seed production, create green jobs, help meet the increased demand for trees and achieve our ambitious net zero targets.
The Seed Sourcing Grant is designed to enhance the quantity, quality and diversity of tree seed sources in England. Most tree seed planted in the UK is of British origin, but evidence suggests that British seed sources may struggle to meet future demand across all species and there are known to be global shortages of tree seed.
The grant also aims to improve the diversity of England’s seed supply, for example by increasing the range of species and provenances available. This will be crucial for creating diverse and resilient woodlands, which are better able to adapt to future climate conditions as well as pests and diseases. It will also reduce the need to buy seed from the international market, lowering the risk of importing harmful pests and pathogens.
Eligible activities include:
- Management of existing seed stands – the groups of trees in the landscape from which seed is collected - to ensure they are productive for seed collectors.
- Desk studies and field studies to identify and bring additional seed stands onto the National Register of Basic material.
- Planning and planting of new seed stands.
- Planning and planting of new seed orchards – which are planted using seed or clonal material from known parents outside of the natural landscape in an area convenient for seed collectors.
- Some activities will take time to implement, and so multi-year funding will be available up until March 2025.
To apply now, visit the Seed Sourcing Grant page on GOV.UK. Closing date for applications is Sunday 13 November 2022.
The Forestry Commission will host a webinar on Tuesday 11 October 2022, 2-3pm, to help with the application process. Sign up to the webinar.
2. Seed Sourcing Grant - sign up to the webinar
Seed Sourcing Grant webinar
Join Megan Shirley, Forestry Commission Incentives Manager, and Clare Trivedi, Defra Plant Health R&D Manager, to find out about the funding available and the application process.
Tuesday 11 October 2022
2-3pm
3. New Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) guidance for landowners
Read about the new guidance.
New guidance for landowners is now available. This includes FRM background, definitions and in-depth information around seed stands. Also included is guidance on how to register as a Basic Material Manager in order to register a seed stand or orchard, information required to register a stand, as well as an explanation on what is involved in the inspection process.
Visit the Marketing forest reproductive material for forestry purposes page on GOV.UK to view the new guidance along with further information on marketing FRM for forestry purposes, including how to register basic material.
If you require more advice or have a specific query, please contact the FRM team on FRM@forestrycommission.gov.uk.
4. England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO)
When we updated the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) in June we told you that we would be making some updates to Additional Contributions in September. We are still working hard to prepare these updates and they will be released later this year. Here is a reminder of what is planned:
Flood Risk Additional Contribution – this will shift the focus of the payments to priority catchments for natural flood risk management, expanding the eligible land in these catchments further up the catchments to include areas of the flood plain at risk to surface water flooding.
Riparian Buffers (Keeping Rivers Cool) Additional Contribution – this change will help to better target payments to account for improved data on water courses that lack shade.
If you are submitting a EWCO application which contains either of these two Additional Contributions, there is no need to wait to submit your application. This is because:
- applications received before the changes are made will retain the eligibility that applied at the time we received your application
- applications will also be able to take advantage of any change which makes them newly eligible for these Additional Contributions (subject to them meeting the associated design requirements)
5. Updates to the Trees and Waders Guidance
We’ve updated the guidance to give a clearer definition of woodland.
We have made a minor amendment to our Guidance to help inform when an upland breeding wader survey is needed and when woodland creation is likely to be appropriate.
Box 5 notes in the appendices to include a clearer definition of ‘woodland’ based on National Forestry Inventory criteria.
Woodland will be considered to fall within the scope of this guidance if it is identified on the most up-to-date National Forest Inventory (NFI) or is woodland that has been created after the most recent NFI update and meets the NFI definition. The definition of woodland included in the NFI is as follows:
“A minimum area of 0.5 ha under stands of growing trees greater than 20m in width, with a canopy cover of at least 20% comprised of trees at least 5 metres in height or having the potential to achieve this.”
The definition relates to land use, rather than land cover, so newly established woodland, integral open space and felled areas within existing woodland that are awaiting restocking are included as woodland. Woodland is classed as ‘significant’ if it forms a contiguous block of more than 5 ha which also meets the above NFI definition, is likely to host predators, has no major barriers to predator movements between it and the proposed woodland creation site and is not topographically isolated from the proposed woodland creation site. Separate areas of woodland will be considered contiguous where there is a separation of 20 metres or less.
6. Would you like to find out more about the Woodland Carbon Code and the Woodland Carbon Guarantee?
Join our webinar!
The webinar will take place on Tuesday 4 October 2022 and will help you learn more about the Woodland Carbon Code and Woodland Carbon Guarantee.
Forestry Commission and Scottish Forestry are running an introductory session, for those who are unfamiliar with the schemes or for those who could use a refresher – with an opportunity to ask questions.
We will be running through what the Woodland Carbon Code and Woodland Carbon Guarantee are, how they work, and how they enable forestry projects to secure extra income from the carbon they sequester.
Introduction to the Woodland Carbon Code and Woodland Carbon Guarantee.
Sign up to our webinar to find out about the Woodland Carbon Code and Woodland Carbon Guarantee and how they can enable forestry projects to secure extra income from the carbon they sequester.
Monday 4 October 2022
10am - 12noon
Book via Eventbrite
7. Visit our stand at the APF Conference
If you are attending the APF Conference over the coming days we would love to meet you!
22 - 24 September 2022
9am - 6pm daily
Ragley Estate, Warwickshire
Visit our stand to learn more about the support and grants that are available.