Guidance

Managing your Seed Sourcing Grant

Published 4 March 2026

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-seed-sourcing-grant-recipients/managing-your-seed-sourcing-grant

Use this guidance to understand Seed Sourcing Grant (SSG) processes and find answers to common questions.

Read this alongside your grant agreement and the SSG claims and reporting guidance.

How to contact us

Send all emails about your project to ssg@forestrycommission.gov.uk. 

Key dates

Claim and reporting deadlines

Submit end of year claims by 10:55pm on:

  • Friday 27 March 2026 (for the 2025 to 2026 financial year)
  • Saturday 27 March 2027 (for the 2026 to 2027 financial year)
  • Monday 27 March 2028 (for the 2027 to 2028 financial year)

You can submit additional claims on 2 other dates of your choosing each financial year. The financial year runs from 1 April to 27 March the following year.

We will run a claims question and answer drop-in session before each end of year deadline. We will send invites in advance.

Read the SSG claims and reporting guidance for details of how to claim for costs incurred between 28 and 31 March.

Understanding your grant agreement

Grant recipient

The grant recipient is the organisation listed at the top of your grant agreement. We can only pay claims to the grant recipient organisation.

Lead applicant

The lead applicant is the person who signed your grant agreement. They can sign claim forms and request or approve changes to your grant agreement.

Project representatives

Project representatives are listed in the ‘Overview of your grant’ section of your grant agreement. They can sign claim forms and request or approve changes to your grant agreement.

Escalation contact

The escalation contact is listed in the ‘Overview of your grant’ section of your grant agreement. We will contact them if there is a complaint, appeal or dispute. They can sign claim forms and request or approve changes to your grant agreement.

Grant addendums

Grant addendums record significant changes made to your grant agreement. These must be agreed by the Forestry Commission and the lead applicant or project representative.

Carrying out your funded activities

When carrying out your funded activities, you must:

  • save invoices and receipts
  • keep a record of any staff time you intend to claim
  • check that invoices are correct and addressed to the grant recipient organisation
  • not make payments in cash

You can only claim for items or activities on your finance spreadsheet.

Read the SSG claims guidance on how to submit a claim.

Landowner permissions

You must always contact the landowner for permission before collecting source material.

If you plan to collect material from Forestry England land, contact seedenquiries@forestryengland.uk in advance.

You should have material supply agreements in place with the landowners and other parties involved in sourcing material and final planting locations. These agreements should cover:

  • ownership of the resulting genetic resources
  • intellectual property rights

Changes to your project

Any requests to make a change to your project must come from the lead applicant, a project representative or the escalation contact.

Requesting a change

Tell us as soon as possible if you want to to:

  • make significant changes to your project
  • reallocate budget because item costs have changed

If your proposed changes affect how your budget is allocated between items, submit an amended finance spreadsheet for approval. If you no longer plan to purchase an item, change the grant funded amount for that item to £0.

Your maximum funding amount cannot be increased. You cannot move budget between financial years.

All significant changes need Forestry Commission approval in advance. We may issue you with a grant addendum depending on the nature of the changes.

Underspend, risks and issues

Contact us as soon as possible if:

  • there are major risks, issues or delays to your project
  • you are predicting significant underspend

We may be able to provide advice or help you adjust elements of your project.

Withdrawal from your grant agreement

If you no longer plan to go ahead with your project you must let us know as soon as possible and explain the situation clearly.

We may consider delivery of previous projects when assessing future grant applications.

Changes to your team or organisation

Any requests to change your project must come from the lead applicant, a project representative or the escalation contact.

Changing or adding lead applicants and project representatives

Contact us if you need to:

  • add a new project representative to your grant agreement
  • change the lead applicant on your grant agreement

We will issue you with a grant addendum.

If your lead applicant is leaving the organisation, tell us in advance so they can approve the change.

Change of address, bank details or VAT registration status

If you are already registered as a Forestry Commission supplier, contact us if there are changes to your address, bank details or VAT registration status.

We will issue you with a supplier amendment form.

Change of organisation name

If your organisation name changes, let us know. We will issue you with a grant addendum and ask you to complete a supplier amendment form.

Transfer of agreement to a different organisation

We can only pay claims to the grant recipient organisation listed on your grant agreement.

If you want to change the grant recipient to a different organisation (for example, if you are merging with another organisation), contact us.

We will review your request. If approved, we will issue you with a grant addendum and ask you to complete a supplier creation form.

Site visits

We may carry out a site visit at any point during your funding period. We will contact you to arrange this.

During the visit, we will discuss your project progress, including any challenges, risks, issues and future plans. We will complete a report during the visit and share it with you.

Marketing and communications

Acknowledging your Forestry Commission funding

Where appropriate, you can use the Forestry Commission logo to acknowledge the source of your funding. This helps promote the impact of the grant.

You must contact us for permission before using the Forestry Commission logo on external documents and products.

We can provide:

  • logos as PNG files with transparent backgrounds
  • logos for use in both colour and black and white formats
  • brand guidance

When using our logo, use the wording: “Supported through the Seed Sourcing Grant by: [Forestry Commission logo]”.

Promoting your project

We may be able to help you to promote events, publications or media related to your project.

Contact us in advance if you:

  • would like support with promotion
  • are releasing any press notices, significant publications or media

When posting about your project on social media, tag the Forestry Commission

  • X: @ForestryComm
  • LinkedIn: Forestry Commission
  • Facebook: @ForestryComm

Registering your seed stands or orchards

You must register seed stands or orchards on the Register of UK Basic Material before your final claim if your project involves:

  • managing a seed stand or orchard that is not yet on the register
  • identifying new seed stands
  • planting a new seed stand or orchard within your funding period

If you will plant a seed stand or orchard after your funding period ends, please email ssg@forestrycommission.gov.uk once you have registered it so we can track of your project outputs.

The forest reproductive material (FRM) guidance explains how to register stands and orchards.

The SSG eligible species and activities page includes minimum requirements for seed stands and orchards.

Seed orchards, selected stands or indigenous stands or orchards  

To register a seed orchard, selected stand or indigenous seed stand or orchard: 

  1. Register the seed stand or orchard on the Register of UK Basic Material.
  2. Email the required evidence to FRM@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

The FRM team will make an initial assessment and arrange an inspection if satisfied.

Evidence you need to provide: 

  • seed orchards: information about planting layouts and positions, origin of selected planted material, fixed marker post positions and isolation from the same or hybridising species
  • selected stands: see Appendix 3 of the FRM guidance. You should provide proof of as many criteria as possible, including photos with a good representation of the trees in the stand
  • indigenous stands or orchards: see Appendix 4 of the FRM guidance

Mixed seed stands or orchards 

If you want to register multiple species on the same site: 

  • each species must meet the FRM requirements (for example, minimum number of trees) 

  • you must register each species individually 

Read Appendix 6 of the FRM guidance on basic material consisting of mixed stands.

Newly planted stands or orchards

You should pre-register new seed stands or orchards immediately after planting. Pre-registration is currently only available for stands or orchards funded through the SSG.

Process for pre-registering a seed stand or orchard:

  1. Register the seed stand or orchard on the Register of UK Basic Material.
  2. Email FRM@forestrycommission.gov.uk and ssg@forestrycommission.gov.uk explaining it is not yet seed-bearing and that you receive SSG funding.
  3. Email the FRM team annually from the date you first registered the stand or orchard to confirm whether it is seed-bearing.
  4. Once the trees are seed-bearing, contact the FRM team. They will arrange an inspection to approve the stand or orchard if necessary.
  5. If approved, collections can be notified through the FRM system as usual.

Collections cannot be registered from the stand or orchard until it is seed-bearing.

Non-seed-bearing seed stands

If you conduct a desk or field study and identify a suitable seed stand that is not yet seed-bearing, you may pre-register it. Pre-registration is currently only available for stands or orchards funded through the SSG.

Follow the same guidance as for newly planted stands or orchards.

Useful contacts and resources

Forest reproductive material (FRM) team

If you have any questions about the FRM system or problems registering a seed stand or orchard, contact FRM@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

Millenium Seed Bank

If you need access to Millennium Seed Bank seed or data contact MSBUKSeeds@kew.org.

You can find data on UK tree seed collections at the UK National Tree Seed Database.

Seed sourcing resources

The following external resources contain information on seed sourcing best practice. The Forestry Commission is not responsible for the accuracy of their content.

Seed sourcing for trees of the future webinars

In 2022, the Institute of Chartered Foresters ran an online event about seed sourcing. The sessions contain guidance and advice that may help with your SSG project.

Watch the sessions:

Providing feedback

We welcome any feedback about the grant. This helps us to improve our offer and processes.

We may invite you to provide anonymous feedback through surveys. You can also contact us at any time at ssg@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

Read further guidance for SSG recipients.

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