eAlert: 31 August 2021 - Tree Health Pilot launches
Published 8 September 2021
Applies to England
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1. Apply for the new Tree Health Pilot
1.1 Find out more about our new Pilot.
Landowners and managers are invited to express their interest to take part in the Tree Health Pilot designed to support action against pests and diseases affecting their trees.
The Tree Health Pilot scheme will test different ways of slowing the spread of pests and diseases in specific trees.
It is a three-year scheme which provides an opportunity to trial and test new elements of the Tree Health scheme that will launch in 2024.
Funding from the Pilot can go towards paying back a range of measures including:
- felling diseased trees
- restocking and capital items
- maintenance of trees
- biosecurity items
Learning from the Pilot will inform the future Tree Health Scheme, being rolled out in 2024. 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.
1.2 Who is eligible?
The scheme will be available for owners and managers of trees and woodlands who have a tree pest or disease confirmed in the locations by the Forestry Commission.
The trees or woodlands you manage must be one of the following:
- ash with ash dieback
- larch with Phytophthora ramorum
- spruce growing in the high-risk spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) area
- sweet chestnut with Phytophthora ramorum or sweet chestnut blight
The pilot will initially focus on woodlands in the North West, South East and London, and the West Midlands.
1.3 How does it work?
You can express an interest in the Pilot on our website. After consideration from the Forestry Commission, eligible landowners and managers will be invited to make a full application. Pilot agreements will then be established for sites where the most learning is to be gained.
Full details of the grant payment rates can be found on our website.
2. Don’t miss out on the Tree Production Innovation Fund
2.1 The fund aims to increase and diversify our domestic tree production.
Applicants will be invited to apply for up to £200,000 in grant funding to support projects designed to address one or more of the following challenges identified through stakeholder engagement as barriers to tree production.
These include:
- making better use of available seed and vegetative planting material to maximise the quantity, quality and diversity of trees produced
- developing growing systems to enhance their efficiency and resilience to change, whilst delivering improved quality and diversity of product
- using innovative environmentally sustainable weed control solutions to reduce reliance on herbicides
Applications close 11:59 pm on 8 September 2021.