Correspondence

eAlert: 28 May 2021 - Local Authority Treescapes Fund deadline extended

Published 28 May 2021

Applies to England

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

1. 28 May 2021

Read about the Local Authority Treescapes Fund deadline extension. Find out when the fourth Woodland Carbon Guarantee will be held and how you can apply, also hear about a new tree health pilot that launches this summer and don’t miss the deadline for the Forestry England Woodland Creation Partnership applications!

2. Local Authority Treescapes Fund - deadline for applications extended

2.1 Fund now open for applications until 30 June 2021.

In response to customer feedback we have extended the application deadline for the Local Authority Treescapes Fund until 30 June 2021. Up to 50 grants worth between £50,000 and £300,000 are available for local authorities to transform neglected green spaces. For more information, visit the Local Authority Treescapes Fund page.

3. Woodland Carbon Guarantee

3.1 Fourth Woodland Carbon Guarantee auction dates announced.

Farmers and land managers across England are encouraged to apply for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee by 23:59 on Sunday 9 July, ahead of the next auction which will take place online between 26 July and 1 August.

The Woodland Carbon Guarantee is a Forestry Commission administered £50 million scheme that aims to help accelerate woodland planting rates and permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Guarantee provides land managers with new tree planting projects the option to sell their captured carbon in the form of verified carbon credits, called Woodland Carbon Units (WCUs), to the government for a guaranteed price every 5 or 10 years up to 2055/56. This provides an additional long-term income from their woodlands.

This announcement follows the success of the third auction which closed on 1 November 2020 and saw 31 contracts offered by the Forestry Commission, to help stimulate proposals for the creation of 615 hectares of new woodland specifically to help combat climate change.

Sir William Worsley, Chair of the Forestry Commission, said:

The Guarantee is a unique offering from the Forestry Commission as it provides land managers with long term support for creating new woodlands, based on the amount of carbon they capture. “The success from the previous auctions demonstrates how this long-term commitment has been well received within the sector and is just one of the ways we are working towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Encouraging diverse woodland types and tree species is a key factor in the Forestry Commission’s efforts to increase tree planting rates in England. This scheme aims to achieve a varied range of projects across different locations and scales.

Before applying for the Guarantee, land managers will need to have registered with the Woodland Carbon Code, which provides the tools and information required to forecast and verify the carbon they are capturing and can sell in future.

Apply for the Guarantee now.

4. New Tree Health Pilot to launch this summer

4.1 Defra is launching a new Tree Health Scheme and encouraging owners and managers of trees and woodlands to take part in the scheme’s pilot, starting in August.

The new scheme will provide grants to land managers, including farmers, to take action against tree pests and diseases to protect our trees, woods and forests. Measures will include biosecure felling and treatment of diseased or infested trees. The scheme will also support the restocking and maintenance of newly re-planted trees following a pest or disease outbreak.

The pilot will last for three years and, following scrupulous testing and final revisions, the new scheme will fully roll out in 2024. Details of the pilot will be published in the summer ahead of applications opening at the end of August 2021.

The Pilot will be looking to trial new elements of the future scheme through 100 agreements with woodland owners and land managers in London, the South East, the North West and West Midlands. Applicants will need to have an eligible tree pest or disease confirmed on their land by the Forestry Commission, as we will be running the scheme.

Forestry Commission Chair, Sir William Worsley, said:

I urge eligible land owners and farmers to look into applying to take part in the Tree Health Scheme’s pilot. A healthy treescape is crucial to ensure that we leave our environment in a better state for future generations and for us to reaching our net zero by 2050 goals. Trees are central to the Government’s plans to achieve this and your participation in this new scheme is a significant step towards achieving these ambitions.

The Pilot will work alongside the existing Countryside Stewardship Woodland Tree Health grants - which will continue to be on offer until 2024, when the new Tree Health scheme will be adopted. As the Pilot will be trialling new elements of the future scheme only, payments made as part of the Tree Health Pilot will differ to payments made as part of the existing Countryside Stewardship Tree Health grants.

We will have more to say about this through the eAlert later in the year so watch this space.

5. The deadline for applications to the Forestry England Woodland Creation Partnership is almost here

5.1 Applications can be submitted up until the end of the day on 1 June 2021.

Launched in March this year the Forestry England Woodland Partnership is aimed at landowners including public bodies, environmental NGOs and farmers, offering an annual, guaranteed rent in return for a long-term lease on land of at least 50 hectares.

If you are looking for a chance to diversify landholding and farming businesses and requires limited financial investment and no forestry expertise as Forestry England will design, plant and manage every site as part of the nation’s forests, then this could be a great option for you s submit your application by 23:59 on 1 June 2021.

As part of the Nature for Climate Fund to support the government’s tree planting commitment, the scheme aims to create significant new areas of high-quality, biodiverse woodlands across England.

A new brochure giving details of the partnership benefits and the application process is now available to download on the Forestry England website: forestryengland.uk/woodland-creation.

6. The All England Woodland Resilience Awards are now open

The All England Woodland Resilience Awards are now open to showcase existing and newly created woodlands which are exemplars of resilience and adaptation. To nominate yourself or others, visit the RFS website. Closes 19 June 2021.