We sell, rent, manage, survey, plan and advise...what can we do for you?
With the Government’s pledge to treble tree planting rates by the end of this Parliament, there is an increasing focus on schemes to support landowners to bring forward new areas for woodland planting.
England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO)
The main scheme available in England is the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) new scheme, EWCO, which opened for applications on 9th June 2021. The scheme is open to owner occupiers, tenants, landlords and licensors. To be accepted, land must meet the following criteria:
There are four types of payments being made available:
The scheme can be applied for at any time with funding decisions taking between 12 and 20 weeks.
Trees for Climate
An alternative, for those with land in the Marston Vale area of Bedfordshire, is Trees for Climate. The Forest of Marston Vale Trust has recently secured funding from DEFRA for a tree planting scheme which will provide landowners with an opportunity to create new woodland, assisted by a flexible funding package. The package is likely to be more generous than the EWCO scheme as it is specific to this Community Forest area.
Woodland Carbon Code
Applicants under either of the above schemes will have the ability to register the woodland with the Woodland Carbon Code. This is a quality assurance scheme for new woodland which generates independently verified carbon credit which can be sold.
If you would like more information on either the EWCO or Trees for Climate schemes, please contact Katie.
The Forest of Marston Vale Trust has secured unprecedented levels of funding from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to accelerate tree planting activity within the Marston Vale area of Bedfordshire over the next four years. Under this new “Trees for Climate” scheme, up to £8 million is available to support new tree planting projects up until April 2025. It presents an excellent opportunity for landowners looking at options for their land going forwards, and a chance to explore how trees can be part of their plans.
Covering 61 square miles between Bedford and Milton Keynes, as shown in the plan below, the Forest of Marston Vale is one of 12 Community Forests established during the early 1990s. Since its inception over 2 million trees have been planted within the Forest area and, with the Government’s commitment to planting 30,000 hectares of woodland per year across the UK by 2025, this additional funding will help enable more planting to be completed.
The Defra-backed Trees for Climate Scheme will provide flexible funding packages to landowners for creating new woodlands, including payments for up to 15 years. Assistance will be given to design planting proposals and also to plant and establish the new woodland over the first 5 years, if required. Locally, the Trees for Climate scheme is unique to the Forest of Marston Vale, and offers more flexible and potentially greater levels of funding than nationwide schemes recently launched by the Forestry Commission.
If you have land within the Forest of Marston Vale area and would like more information on the Trees for Climate Scheme, please contact Katie Cross on 01234 362935 or email krc@robinsonandhall.co.uk
