Guidance

Extra Payment for Replanting under Eligible Criteria (2025 to 2026 planting season)

Updated 14 October 2026

Applies to England

The Extra Payment for Replanting under Eligible Criteria (EPREC) provides funding to help sustain trees and woodland planted in 2025 to 2026 that have died due to the prolonged period of hot and dry weather.

This fund only supports plant replacement for trees planted under specific grant schemes in England.

Who can apply

You will be invited to apply if you’re an agreement holder who has claimed for trees planted in the 2025 to 2026 planting season under the following schemes:

• England Woodland Creation Offer
• Urban Tree Challenge Fund
• Local Authority Treescapes Fund

To be eligible, tree failure rates must be at least 25% due to the hot and dry weather.

How the funding is determined

The funding contributes to the cost of replacing dead trees to meet the requirements of your grant agreement.

You must pay to replace the first 15% of all failed trees yourself.

Our contribution will be based on demand and calculated once all applications have been received.

You can also apply for loose mulch and mulch mats as part of the EPREC offer this year. Again, our contribution towards this cost will be determined by demand.

All trees must be sourced from suppliers who can provide evidence that they meet the requirements set out in the Plant Health Management Standard.

You can buy or order trees before your EPREC agreement is agreed, but you must not plant them until the agreement is in place.

How to apply

Step 1: receive your invite

You will be invited to apply if you are an agreement holder who has claimed for trees planted in the 2025 to 2026 planting season under one of the eligible schemes.

Invitations will also be sent to agreement holders yet to submit their final claim who may have planted last year.

Step 2: complete an application form

You must provide details about the extent of the tree losses and how you plan to address this through the replanting in your application form.

Read the technical guidance to support replanting before you apply. You will need to provide a summary explaining how you will apply this guidance on your application form (in section 2.7, 3.8 or 4.2.3).

Download the EPREC application form.

Any proposed changes to tree species must still meet the requirements of your original grant scheme, such as the percentage of native trees and compartment size. We will not agree to changes to planting location through EPREC.

You will need to explain what changes you will make when planting the replacement trees to help improve their chances of survival. This could include reviewing site conditions to ensure they are suitable for planting.

We may accommodate requests to defer planting to the next planting season, particularly if your preferred stock (species, provenance or bare root/containerised) is not available. However we cannot guarantee this and you should aim to plant and claim by 31 March 2027. Read the guidance to support replanting for further advice.

Step 3: submit your application form and map(s)

You must also include a copy of your agreement map(s), annotated to show where failures have occurred and need replanting with your application.

Send your completed application form and annotated map(s) by 15 November 2026 via email to: EPREC2026@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

You can also submit a hard copy, get the postal address from the application form.

After receiving an offer

Once your EPREC agreement is offered, you must sign and return any agreement documentation by the stated deadline.

You can then carry out the work as set out in your application.

Read the technical guidance to support replanting and refer back to it when making decisions regarding tree species choice, tree handling and tree planting.

How to claim

After completing the work you need to submit:

1. A claim form.
2. An annotated location map showing the work done.

All work must be completed and claimed for by 31 March 2027.

If you claim for less work than originally agreed, or have changed species, you must still meet the original requirements of your grant agreement.

Claims will not be paid unless the work meets these criteria.

You must keep the following:

• all relevant invoices and receipts for 7 years
• photographic evidence of the work completed

Important dates

Applications are open from now until 15 November 2026.

Claims deadline: 31 March 2027. All claims must be complete and submitted by this date.

If you are concerned that you cannot meet that deadline, you must tell us as soon as possible. We cannot guarantee payment of claims received after this date.

Force majeure

You can apply for force majeure under the terms and conditions of your grant agreement. However, we do not expect to recognise claims of force majeure for trees lost to drought this year as prolonged dry conditions have become more common place in recent years.

Contact us

If you have any questions about the EPREC grant, email us at EPREC2026@forestrycommission.gov.uk. We will aim to respond within 3 working days.

For more information about the original grant schemes visit:

• England Woodland Creation Offer
• Urban Tree Challenge Fund
• Local Authority Treescapes Fund

Technical guidance to support replanting

How to help young trees survive prolonged hot dry weather (Forestry Commission).

Adapting forest and woodland management to the changing climate (Forest Research).

Choose tree species that best suits the site’s current and future conditions. Use the Ecological Site Classification (ESC) (Forest Research) to help make an informed decision.

Regional changes in England in tree species suitability resulting from climate change (Forest Research) provides a quick look at general suitability of tree species by region in a future climate.

The tree species database (Forest Research) provides a brief summary of the requirements of individual species and helps explain the results of ESC.