eAlert: 27 January 2022 - Plant your future
Published 10 March 2022
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2022
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1. Plant your future: create a lasting legacy that benefits you and future generations
New drive to encourage farmers and landowners across England to plant and manage more trees has launched this week.
Woodland creation offers a profitable way for farmers and landowners to boost their business as well as deliver environmental benefits, while complementing food production.
There are a variety of funding opportunities available to support the creation and management of new and existing woodlands, provided by both Defra, the Forestry Commission, and other woodland creation partnerships across England.
The grant schemes will help land managers diversify their business, with the potential to receive a grant of over £10,000 for every hectare of new woodland created.
2. Urban Tree Challenge Fund and Local Authority Treescapes Fund to re-open in 2022
The Forestry Commission will re-open two major grant schemes in early 2022, the Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF) and Local Authority Treescapes Fund (LATF).
UTCF is a key government offer to level up access to nature across the country, targeting tree planting toward socially deprived urban areas with low canopy cover, in proximity to healthcare and educational facilities.
LATF is a strategic grant scheme for local authorities to drive an increase in non-woodland tree planting across our landscapes.
Read about how the schemes differ and which you should apply for below.
2.1 Grants for urban and non-woodland trees: How are they different and which one should I apply for?
| FAQ | Urban Tree Challenge Fund | Local Authority Treescapes Fund |
|---|---|---|
| Who can apply? | Anyone | A lead local authority (partners may be involved with the group) |
| Where can the trees be planted? | Urban or peri-urban areas | Anywhere outside woodland |
| Are there any restrictions on what trees can be planted? | Must be new trees (cannot be replacements) | Urban and peri-urban standard (large) trees must be direct replacement of recently lost trees. Like-for-like replacement is not required in other locations |
| Do I need to provide match funding and if so how much? | 50% match funding requirement (money or labour) | No requirement but higher match funding commitments score more highly (competitive grant process) |
| How much can the bid be for? | Block bids at least £125,000, individual bids between £10,000 £30,000, each planting block must be fore at least 10 standard trees | Between £50,000 and £300,000 |
2.2 How do I apply?
Application forms will be available on gov.uk when the funds open.LATF and UTCF applications now require you to register with Rural Payments to obtain a Single Business Identifier (SBI) and Customer Reference Number (CRN). This must be provided on the application form. You can register with Rural Payments now.
2.3 I am a local authority, which scheme should I apply for?
You can apply for both! Apply to UTCF if you wish to plant new large trees (standards) in urban areas, or LATF if you wish to plant other non-woodland trees (including replacement urban standards that have been recently lost).
This year, applicants will need to register with Rural Payments (if not already registered) before applying to either of the funds, in order to obtain a Single Business Identifier and Customer Reference Number. This can be done straight away and before the application window opens. We will be changing our application forms this year (to be made available when the window opens) – please do not begin to complete an application on withdrawn versions of the forms.
To find out more about the funds, please visit the UTCF GOV.UK page and LATF GOV.UK page.