Scheme overview
This manual explains what you need to do to apply for a Woodland Management Plan grant and any additional requirements and processes which you must follow.
Countryside Stewardship is administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), with technical advice and support from Natural England (NE) and the Forestry Commission.
Countryside Stewardship (CS) gives incentives for land managers to look after their environment and is made up of the following elements:
- Higher Tier is for land that requires more complex management tailored to the individual site
- Mid Tier provides a range of options and capital items that together help to deliver a broad range of environmental benefits
- Capital only grants for woodlands, hedgerows and boundaries and management plans
- Facilitation Fund supports individuals and organisations working with local groups of farmers and land managers, to co-ordinate their environmental land management.
The Government has confirmed that it will guarantee funding for Countryside Stewardship agreements if they are:
- agreed and signed before 31 December 2020
- good value for money and
- in line with domestic strategic priorities.
Countryside Stewardship supports Defra’s Strategic Objective of ‘a cleaner, healthier environment, benefiting people and the economy’.
It also supports Defra’s 25 year environment plan ‘for our country to be the healthiest, most beautiful place in the world to live, work and bring up a family’. The main priorities of Countryside Stewardship Woodland Management Plans are:
- increased biodiversity, improved habitat and expanded woodland areas
- cleaner water and sustainable usage
- productive land and soils
- UK better protected against flooding and coastal erosion.
This manual explains what you need to do to apply for a Woodland Management Plan grant and any additional requirements and processes which you must follow. For information about the other elements of Countryside Stewardship visit: Countryside Stewardship.
1.1.1 Countryside Stewardship Agreement
A Countryside Stewardship agreement comprises of:
- the scheme Terms and Conditions at Annex 1
- an Agreement Document (which sets out Agreement Holder specific details)
- the supplementary documents referred to in the Agreement Document.
1.1.2 Mandatory parts of the Woodland Management Plan manual
The Terms and Conditions at Annex 1 refer to the mandatory elements of this manual that Agreement Holders must comply with. The mandatory elements of this manual are:
- Section 3: Who can apply
- Section 5: Scheme requirements
There is a dedicated woodland support page on GOV.UK where you can find more information specific to woodland support and the following grants:
- CS: Woodland Creation grant
- CS: Woodland Tree Health.