Guidance on applying for woodland resilience supplement CWS5 under CSHT

Question 1

Context

Accepted Answer

The CWS5: improve woodland resilience supplement helps woodland managers adapt to climate change, natural hazards, and pests and disease.

The supplement forms part of the CSHT offer.

It supports the following outcomes by encouraging you to carry out more complex silvicultural interventions:

increasing tree species diversity
increasing structural diversity in woodland
increasing resilience to current and future threats from climate change

It aligns with the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS): ‘Improving the resilience of forests is key to climate change adaptation’.

Question 2

Eligibility

Accepted Answer

You can only use CWS5 as a supplement alongside the CWD2: Woodland improvement base action.

Your application for CWS5 must be for land that has an approved woodland management plan with the Forestry Commission. This must identify the risks and adaptation measures you will carry out in response by using this supplement.

Read more about the adaptation measures this supplement supports.

This guidance refers to the Forestry Commission’s standard woodland management plan template.

Non-eligibility

You cannot use this supplement in established woodland eligible for either:

manage and restore plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS) – CWS2: any woodland mapped as PAWS is eligible for this supplement
manage native woodland – CWS8: native woodland is a stand mainly or entirely composed of native species, as defined in the UKFS

In these cases, use the relevant supplement instead. This means you are most likely to use CWS5 for plantations of non-native species.

Question 3

Aims and supported outcomes

Accepted Answer

Increasing resilience to threats from climate change

UK woodlands face increasing threats from climate change, such as:

changing rainfall patterns leading to drought and waterlogging
increased frequency and strength of storms leading to wind damage
wildfires resulting from prolonged dry periods and heatwaves
increased risk from pests and diseases
milder winters increasing vulnerability to frost

‘Threats’ include, but are not limited to, any of those listed here.

The changing climate will alter local conditions and site characteristics and may alter species’ suitability or productivity on any site.

These pressures demand proactive, adaptive management to ensure long-term woodland health and productivity. The CWS5 supplement supports silvicultural transformation to increase species and structural diversity, helping to adapt woodland to these growing threats.

Increasing tree species diversity and structural diversity

Through direct woodland management activities, the following outcomes are expected:

increased tree species diversity
enhanced structural diversity

To ensure the work is appropriate for the supplement, you must show evidence of how:

you assessed the threats to your woodland
your management plan delivers adaptation in response to these threats
the resulting species mix and stand structure match the site and conditions following a suitable site and threat assessment

Read more about how you can evidence adaptation measures in your woodland management plan.

CWS5 focuses on silvicultural transformation activities that are known to increase resilience against a range of threats. You can also use CSHT capital items to support other adaptation measures to improve resilience, such as:

FY2: woodland infrastructure
WF1: create a wildfire checklist

You may also be asked to map and record veteran trees.

Insufficient work proposals

The CWS5 supplement is not for routine ‘good practice’ forestry work. For this, use the CWD2: Woodland improvement base action, which you must include with your application for the supplement.

The following management activities are not usually eligible for CWS5 support as they do not demonstrate enough additional activity:

standard cycle of large-scale clearfell and restock/replant
maintenance of even-aged monocultures
cyclical systematic thinning as part of regular forest operations
repeat cutting of a coppice coupe

If you can demonstrate that these activities make the site more resilient to a specific threat, they could still be funded.

Some operations may have the same results at first. However, you must show the expected long-term benefits when you explain and justify the reason for doing them in your woodland management plan and your application for CWS5.

See the example resilience plan.

Question 4

Adaptation measures supported by CWS5

Accepted Answer

1. Increasing structural diversity

Woodland with trees of different ages and multiple canopy layers are more resilient to the threats from climate change.

Creating structural diversity in woodland will help to:

provide a wider range of habitats
make woodland more stable against wind
protect young trees against drought

You can achieve this diversification by planting under an existing woodland canopy or by protecting natural regeneration that occurs after activity such as thinning, selective felling of single trees or groups, or regeneration felling.

For more information and example activities to enhance structural diversity, refer to Appendix 1.

Read more about structural diversity in the UKFS practice guide.

2. Increasing tree species diversity

Increasing the number of tree species in a woodland helps to prepare it for potential threats. You can increase tree species diversity through natural regeneration, by planting felled coupes, or underplanting.

You should use tree species and provenances that suit the site and future climate conditions.

Using less common tree species to address anticipated threats is supported, but you should justify this clearly.

You can use decision support tools to help select species and provenances suited to future climates, including:

For more information and example activities to increase species diversity, refer to Appendix 1.

Read more about increasing species diversity in the UKFS practice guide.

Delivering these adaptation measures

You will need to deliver these 2 adaptation measures through silvicultural interventions. All management activity must show how it supports the proposed adaptation measure.

The other measures in Adapting forest and woodland management to the changing climate are also important, but are not directly supported by the CWS5 supplement. There may be opportunities to adapt forest infrastructure under CSHT using other supplements and capital items.

Question 5

Defining threats and selecting adaptation measures

Accepted Answer

Forestry resilience is a woodland’s ability to resist, recover from, or adapt to threats and disturbances, while still providing the benefits and ecosystem services we depend on. Threats to woodland vary by location, tree species, composition, age and site characteristics, and can differ between stands in a larger forest.

Example of identifying stand level threats

As an example of the need to consider each section of the woodland separately, a stand of shallow-rooted trees on thin soil at the top of a hill faces more risk from wind and drought than a deep-rooted stand in a valley bottom which may face risks of flooding. Each stand needs different silvicultural interventions and resilience measures.

Using the Resilience Implementation Framework

You can use Forest Research’s Resilience Implementation Framework to help you assess risks and identify suitable adaptation measures. The framework outlines steps to:

identify and understand the threats
select and prioritise the right activities for the site and stand

The framework is broken down into 5 steps. Using the framework is optional, but it shows you have assessed threats and chosen appropriate activity. This provides strong evidence to support your CWS5 supplement application.

Refer to the Climate Change Hub for resources to help you follow the 5 steps.

You can use the resilience plan template to record your results. This is based on the Resilience Implementation Framework.

5 steps of the Resilience Implementation Framework

1. Define the system

Use your woodland management plan to describe its current structure, species, and what you want to maintain.

Set clear objectives for the woodland, such as timber, biodiversity, carbon storage, or recreation.

2. Identify threats

Use these Forest Research tools to help you assess climate projections and species suitability, so you can identify threats for each stand:

3. Decide what level of change is acceptable

Agree how much decline is acceptable before action is needed (for example, a drop in yield class). This helps set priorities and timescales for your activity.

4. Identify management activities

Choose management that addresses the threats and include these in your woodland management plan.

The Adapting forest and woodland management to the changing climate practice guide can help you select suitable measures.

Forest Development Types show how you can manage a more diverse stand.

5. Monitor

After taking action, check the desired changes in stand structure, species, and forest health are happening over time.

Question 6

How to evidence adaptation measures in your plan

Accepted Answer

The UK Forest Standard requires adaptation measures to match local site conditions and to be clearly shown in your woodland management plan.

Your application and plan must provide enough detail for us to assess your proposal. You should:

record management activities in your woodland management plan to show that climate adaptation is an integral part of your forest management
link adaptation measures to the site-specific threats you have identified to confirm that the CWS5 supplement is being used to improve resilience

When using our standard woodland management plan template:

List threats and responses in section 5.10: Climate Change Resilience.
If you run out of space in this section, add an expanded version as a ‘resilience plan’.

A resilience plan is an optional appendix to the woodland management plan, not a separate document. It is a list of threats and management activities. See the example resilience plan

If you need to include extra detail for this supplement, you can add an appendix to your woodland management plan as follows:

Small woodlands: include a simple document (refer to the Scale section) highlighting the additional proposed activities.

Large or complex woodlands: you may need a detailed resilience plan specific to the CWS5 application. This is useful where there are multiple threats and adaption measures. It provides more space than the standard woodland management plan template. Speak to your Forestry Commission woodland officer for advice.

Your woodland management plan should include the following to show the management activities are appropriate:

Soil condition and type

Desk-based soil mapping is not accurate enough. Use the Forestry Commission soil classification system after a site-based assessment.

Threats from pests and disease

Record your assessment and link it to the tree species present. Read more about threats from pests and disease.

Threats from climate

Record the assessment based on a site survey at an appropriate scale and complexity (refer to the Scale section).

Adaptation measures linked to risks

Explain how each measure addresses specific threats.

Scale

How much detail you need to show for your planned adaptation measures depends on the complexity of the woodland. Small scale does not always mean a simple response is enough.

Example of scale: appropriate detail for the size of woodland

Small woodland: if the site has one soil type and similar conditions (such as exposure and hydrology), a simple woodland management plan may be enough. Adaptation measures can apply across the whole stand.

Large, complex woodland: if the site has different soil types and exposure conditions, you need more detail to cover the risks. Threats will vary between different stands and you need to address this in your woodland management plan. Avoid generic statements for the whole woodland management plan.

Timescales: progress over time

CWS5 supports long-term transformation activities, which are commenced or continued during the 10-year agreement, and may need to carry on afterwards.

Moving to a continuous cover forestry system takes time and cannot be achieved in a single intervention. Your woodland management plan should set the ‘direction of travel’ and outline management activities over time. The proposed management activity and pace of change should reflect acceptable risk for the stand and surrounding woodland.

When using our woodland management plan template, include your intention to address identified threats in:

section 2: vision and objectives
section 5: woodland protection
section 6: management strategy

Example of timescales for activities in a 10-year period

You should carry out planning and baseline assessments during the preparation of your woodland management plan or the application for this supplement. During the 10-year woodland management plan or CSHT grant agreement period, activities may progress as follows:

Year 1

Detailed inventory measurement and marking for thinning operations, preparing contracting documentation, protection of existing regeneration.

Years 2 to 5

Initial interventions (such as release and protection of existing regeneration), monitoring, adaptive management.

Years 6 to 10

Follow-up canopy interventions, enrichment or supplementary planting in created canopy gaps. Monitor and review future management based on identified change. Planning and preparation for subsequent 10-year period.

Addressing resilience in an existing woodland management plan

If your current woodland management plan already identifies threats and demonstrates suitable adaptation measures, you do not need to update it.

However, if your plan does not provide enough detail to show that your response to threats meets CWS5 requirements, you can add a resilience plan as an appendix. See the example resilience plan.

A resilience plan is optional and should clarify your approach. It is a document that explains and expands existing information.

If your proposed adaptation measures conflict with your existing woodland management plan, you must amend the plan so they are integrated. Speak to your Forestry Commission woodland officer for advice.

Question 7

Monitoring for change

Accepted Answer

The UKFS requires monitoring to be carried out in all cases. Your woodland management plan should explain how to monitor and assess the success of the activities (see section 8 in the Forestry Commission woodland management plan template). Monitoring should link to the objectives included in your woodland management plan.

When managing for change, ongoing monitoring and review are essential. This checks whether activities are being effective and informs future decisions. If activities do not deliver the desired outcomes (for example, natural regeneration fails) you must adjust your management approach.

CWD2: Woodland improvement base action requires use of the Woodland Condition Assessment app. This app is useful for monitoring biodiversity indicators but might not capture useful data about resilience. You may need more detail. You should incorporate monitoring for CWS5 into the CWD2 schedule of observations and consider more frequent checks.

There are many ways to monitor resilience, but standard forest mensuration (measuring) is often most suitable. Regular measurements taken for forest stocking include:

species composition
stem diameter classes and growth rates
stocking density and basal area

Repeated measurements can show increases in species and structural diversity.

You can also use technology to help monitor (such as LIDAR for structural diversity), if supported by ground-truth data and baseline measurements.

Examples of suitable monitoring

Monitoring could focus on:

stand transformation to continuous cover forestry: check underplanting survival and light levels
natural regeneration: measure stocking density and species diversity
species diversity: record how species percentages change over time

Read Forest Research’s guidance on monitoring silvicultural transformation for more information.

Question 8

Related guidance and resources

Accepted Answer

UKFS practice guide: Adapting forest and woodland management to the changing climate
Forestry Commission information note: Transforming even-aged conifer stands to continuous cover management

Climate change and resilience resources

Forest Research Climate Change Hub
Managing for resilience case studies:
- Forest Research case studies
- Transformation to continuous cover forestry at Clocaenog Forest

Forest Research tools and technical resources

Biosecurity guidance and Plant Healthy

Climate forecasting (representative concentration pathways)

UK Climate Projections (UKCP18) – Met Office

Question 9

Appendix 1: Example management activities to address structural and species diversification

Accepted Answer

Example activities to enhance structural diversity

Within the 10-year agreement, you should take steps to increase the variety of age classes in the stand. The level of activity depends on the current age and condition of the stand.

First thinning:

start thinning early on sites moving to continuous cover forestry to develop individual tree crowns
thin the matrix to improve individual tree stability
consider layout and design of thinning racks to prevent windthrow risk and avoid simple systematic rack removal
create racks for access infrastructure to support future interventions

Subsequent thinnings:

continue thinning to develop stand and individual tree stability
plan how the stand will move towards the regeneration phase, and create space for natural regeneration or underplanting shade-tolerant species
measure and plan to identify and mark the frame and final crop trees

Regeneration phase:

selectively remove trees to maintain the target basal area and allow regeneration
reduce the number of racks to avoid disturbing developing regeneration
larger diameter trees of a continuous cover forestry system may require directional motor-manual felling and use of winches
prepare the ground if needed (for example, mulching or scarifying) to create a viable seed bed
if group-felling is carried out, keep coupe sizes small and suitable for the light requirements of the species being established

Refer to felling and restocking definitions for more information.

Example activities to increase species diversity

Within the 10-year agreement, you should take steps to increase the overall number of tree species in the stand. Each species should form a significant proportion of the stand, not just one or two isolated trees. The level of activity depends on the current age and condition of the trees.

Planting:

Establishing natural regeneration:

Natural regeneration is less predictable than planting and needs regular monitoring to achieve desirable outcomes. It often results in monocultures, which would not meet the aims of this supplement. You should:

define acceptable species and stocking density
not include regeneration of species with known local threats (such as pest or disease) or poor future suitability under ESC
prepare the ground if needed (for example, mulching or scarification) to create a successful seed bed
carry out the survey early to check coverage and successful establishment of the regeneration
use enrichment planting to reach the target stocking density if needed

Post-establishment:

weed or remove competing vegetation as needed
respace natural regeneration, if needed, to achieve the right stocking density and allow future management: this helps balance species mixture and prevents one tree species from dominating