GRANTS, FUNDING & LICENSING

CS Higher Tier – Woodland Improvement (WD2)

The CS Higher Tier Woodland Improvement scheme is a 5-year scheme that is aimed at supporting the biodiversity of woodland and to make it more resilient to climate change, through active management of many parts of your woodland. Eligible activities include thinning, ride widening, open space creation and creating deadwood habitat. A valid, FC approved WMP is required to obtain any grant support through WD2, as well as the registration of the applicant and land with the RPA. Applications are only available for submission within a certain window, generally between February and April.

There is a minimum area requirement of 3ha (or if your woodland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest) and a minimum woodland block size of 0.5 Ha.

The WD2 option payment rates are as follows:

Between 3ha – 10ha       £1000 per year (flat rate)

More than 10ha               £100 per ha per year

Introduced in 2022, there are also additional supplement payments that are compatible with the WD2 option. These are:

• WS1 Deer control and management; achieve effective deer management, where deer have been identified as a threat to semi-natural woodlands, regeneration and/or where deer browsing negatively impacts on woodland features, ground flora or structure: £90/ha
• WS2 Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) – restoration and maintenance; restore and maintain plantations on ancient woodlands sites: £70/ha
• WS3 Squirrel control and management; to manage the population of invasive grey squirrels and help increase the population of native red squirrels: £50/ha
• WS4 Access for people; enable permissive access (by foot) across the whole woodland to increase the wellbeing of the public, where access to the woodland is currently limited: £50/ha

There are other supplement options that are compatible with both WD2 and other grant options.

There are many capital items and options that are compatible with this grant, such as stock fencing, habitat boxes and deer high seats. You can also obtain funding for woodland infrastructure, as part of the Woodland Infrastructure grant (FY2), as well as funding for Squirrel traps/maintenance (FY3) and scrub control on difficult sites (SB2).

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CS Higher Tier, Mid Tier and Capital Items

There are many other Countryside Stewardship grants available for a wide variety of environmental and agricultural practices and items. These are classed into three types:

• Higher Tier – complex environmental management schemes which offer significant benefits to high-priority areas. Options include WD4 Management of lowland wood pasture and parkland and WD8 Creation of successional areas and scrub.
• Mid Tier – a scheme for the majority of farmers and land managers to help protect and enhance the environment. Options include UP1 Enclosed rough grazing and GS6 Management of species-rich grassland.
• Capital items – stand alone or one off/one time payments under the following categories: boundaries, trees and orchard, and water and air quality. Options include TE8 Tree guard (wood post and wire) and BN7 Hedgerow gapping-up.

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Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG)

The Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) provides funding for the preparation of a woodland creation design plan, which can then form the basis of a EWCO application. Available year round, the minimum total application area is 5ha, with minimum block size of 0.5ha.

There are two stages and three payment rates to the grant:

• Stage 1 – Desk based searches – Flat rate £1000: identify any constraints or opportunities with the scheme, such as archaeological features, protected species and existing habitat. You use this stage to identify any elements that would require further specialist surveys and apply for a supplementary payment (see further details below).
• Stage 2 – Design plan – £150 per hectare (minus the initial payment): creation of maps and plans that take into account constraints and opportunities identified in Stage 1. Maps include a Design concept plan and Site appraisal plan.
• Supplementary payments – 70% of actual costs: if Stage 1 searches reveal that a more specialist survey is required to inform the design of the woodland, quotes are to be gathered for the relevant surveys and assessments. Surveys include Habitat and species surveys and Historic and cultural assessments

Schemes are capped at £30,000 in total. If your application is under 10 Ha, a minimum payment of £500 will be paid at stage 2 to cover the creation design plan costs.

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HS2 Woodland Fund (HS2WF)`

The HS2 Woodland Fund (HS2WF) provides support for woodland creation and Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) Restoration within a 25-mile zone of the Phase One HS2 route.

Woodland Creation (WC)

Applications for WC are now completed through the EWCO scheme; capital and maintenance payments are made by HS2 Ltd, whilst EWCO will still fund any Additional Contributions. Applicants will be notified of this through their EWCO agreement offer and will have the option to opt out of receiving funding from HS2 Ltd if desired. As per standard EWCO, applications are open year-round. The main condition for payment by HS2 Ltd is that all proposed species are native.

Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) Restoration

This capital funding is for the restoration of PAWS areas at 100% of the standard costs for eligible activities. There are no caps on the amount of funding a project can receive.

The HS2 Woodland Fund is open year-round but PAWS restoration applications will be assessed four times per year. You have one planting season to complete your project.

Applications will be considered where the felling has already taken place and your HS2WF proposed species will better improve the environmental outcome compared to the existing restocking conditions. For example, if the restocking species on the felling licence are for non-native trees, the FC will approve your HS2WF application that includes native and/or honorary broadleaves to replace your felling conditions.

There are several eligibility requirements for the scheme:

• A valid WMP and correct felling permissions must be approved or approved in principle prior to application submission.
• There are no existing land management grant schemes on the application area.
• Minimum application size: 0.5ha
• Felling coupe size: 0.1ha-2ha
• Stocking density: 1,100 – 2,500 st/ha
• Species mix – minimum of 80% native species, 20% honorary broadleaves.

Funded capital items include:

• Tree restocking and shelters
• Protective items, such as fencing and gates
• Natural flood management items, such as leaky dams
• Pest control items, such as squirrel traps and deer high seats.

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Tree Health Pilot Scheme

This is an invitation grant scheme for owners and managers of existing woodlands, to help deal with tree pests and diseases.

Pests and diseases including:

• Larch with Phytophthora ramorum
• Spruce growing in the high-risk eight-toothed spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) area: see map of demarcated area
• Sweet chestnut with Phytophthora ramorum or sweet chestnut blight
• Oak with oak processionary moth (OPM) in the established area – see map of the Established Area within London and the South East
• Ash with ash dieback.

You’ll usually be invited to take part in the pilot because you’ve been contacted by a Forestry Commission woodland officer. However, you can still apply for the THP scheme without an invitation.

You may be invited to apply by a Forestry Commission woodland officer because you have a specific tree, pest or disease on your land. For example, you might have a Statutory Plant Health Notice (SPHN) for trees infected by one of the specified pests or diseases.

Trees or woodland must be in one of the following regions: North West, West Midlands, South East, London – please see the FC Area and Woodland Officer boundaries map for confirmation

Eligible woodland areas have to cover at least 0.5 hectares, be at least 5 metres high, or will grow to this height and have a crown cover of more than 20% of the ground area.

Eligible trees outside woodland have to cover an area of less than 0.5 hectares. For example, trees in hedgerows, along a road or in parks.

Minimum application value is £500.

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