Countryside Stewardship (CS) is a national scheme in England that provides financial support to manage, restore, and enhance existing woodland, as well as to protect priority habitats and improve biodiversity. It offers a mix of revenue payments for annual management activities and capital grants for one-off infrastructure works to help land managers maintain woodlands to a high environmental standard.

Applications are open annually, and agreements run for five or ten years, depending on the options chosen. Landowners, tenants, and land managers can apply either as individuals or as part of a group agreement.

Funding is available for:

• Woodland Improvement (WD2) at £127 per hectare per year for 10 years
• Grey squirrel control and management (CWS3) at £60 per hectare for 10 years
• Deer control and management (CWS1) at £105 per hectare per year for 10 years
• Restoring wood pasture and parkland (CWD21) at £371 per hectare per year for 10 years
• Veteran tree surgery (TE17) at £488 per tree per Intervention (up to 2 per tree) for 5 years
• Management and restoration of plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS) supplement (CWS2) at £275 per hectare for 10 years   
• Management of native woodland including ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW) supplement (CWS8) at £144 per hectare for 10 years
• Capital items such as fencing, gates, deer high seats, deer exclosures, and access tracks

CS agreements are typically delivered through the Higher Tier, and most woodland options require a UK Forestry Standard (UKFS)-compliant Woodland Management Plan (WMP) approved by the Forestry Commission.  

The tree health pilot (THP) scheme is testing different ways of slowing the spread of pests and diseases affecting trees in England. It expands on support available through the Woodland Tree Health grant.

There are grants available for:

• Larch trees with Phytophthora ramorum
• Spruce trees affected by Ips typographus
• Sweet chestnut trees with Phytophthora ramorum or sweet chestnut blight
• Oak trees with oak processionary moth (OPM)
• Ash trees with ash dieback

The pilot scheme was initially intended as a 3-year scheme (August 2021 – August 2024). However, it has been extended until the launch of the full nationwide Tree Health grant scheme, ensuring there is no gap in support.

Trees or woodlands eligible for this support must be in the following regions:

• North West
• West Midlands
• South East
• London

You can apply as an individual or on behalf of other people for a group grant for example, if you are from a local council, a charity, or a land agent. The minimum funding value of THP is £500.

Contact Mike Chapman and Peter Topham

The Woodland Management Plan (WMP) Grant is a capital grant under the Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme. It provides a one-off payment to create a UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) compliant 10-year Woodland Management Plan.

This grant is available to land managers, including owner-occupiers, tenants, landlords, and licensors, who have management control of the land.

The payment rates are based on the total area of eligible woodland, with a flat rate of £1,500 for areas between 3 to 50 hectares, £1,500 plus £30 per additional hectare for areas between 51 to 100 hectares, and £3,000 plus £15 per additional hectare for areas over 100 hectares.

The WMP must cover all woodland on the holding and be approved by the Forestry Commission (FC). Applications are open year-round, subject to budget availability.

The Woodland Tree Health (WTH)  grants are a family of capital grants that provide support for Woodland Tree Health Restoration and/or Woodland Tree Health Improvement. There are 18 capital grants available through the WTH scheme.

If you are a land manager, you can apply for a Woodland Tree Health grant to support one or both of the following:

• the restocking of trees after tree felling to manage infection from certain tree diseases or pests.
• the removal of diseased trees and rhododendron infected with either Phytophthora ramorum, Phytophthora pluvialis or Phytophthora kernoviae. 
• Applications for the Woodland Tree Health Grant are open year-round. 

Minimum application size is 0.5 ha, and land entered into the scheme must be registered to your RPA account. You can apply for a WTH grant on land parcels which already have an existing Countryside Stewardship, Environmental Stewardship or Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement, but may not include any work which is already required by the existing scheme or is a breach of the conditions of the existing agreement. There is a need for those applying for this grant to ensure their land is eligible and not in any schemes that would exclude applications. Information on specific requirements and exclusions to eligibility can be found here.

The Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) provides up to £30,500 per project to prepare a UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) compliant Woodland Creation Design Plan. This grant is designed to help landowners, land managers, and public bodies plan and design new woodlands that meet high environmental standards. The funding can be used for various planning activities, including site surveys, stakeholder consultations, and the development of detailed planting schemes. The grant is set up in two stages, with a flat payment of £1,500 for stage 1, which is mainly a desk-based process. Stage 2 requires detailed site assessment and woodland design. The grant will pay £150/ha up to the maximum mentioned above. Applications for this grant are open year-round, making it accessible whenever you are ready to start planning your woodland project. 

The England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) encourages investment in woodland creation to mitigate climate change and deliver a range of environmental benefits. This grant offers up to £10,200 per hectare for tree planting based on a catalogue of standard items costings, which includes support for site preparation, planting, and protection of young trees.

As well as funding for the core woodland creation, there is a range of additional contributions aimed at supporting other benefits such as public access, riparian planting and 3 different levels of nature recovery. These additional contributions are stackable on each other in places, as well as with the main capital item grant.

In areas of low risk for afforestation, as defined by the FC, an extra payment of £1,100/ha is available and the FC have a target of approving grant applications within 12 weeks.

Once planted, there are annual maintenance payments of £400 per hectare for 15 years to ensure the successful establishment and growth of the new woodland. This comprehensive support makes it an attractive option for farmers and land managers looking to create new woodlands. The grant is open year-round, allowing for flexibility in planning and implementation.

The Community Forests provides alternative funding for new woodland creation, offering flexible funding options, including up to 100% of capital costs and funding for maintenance trees after planting. These programs aim to enhance green spaces, improve biodiversity, and provide social and environmental benefits to local communities.

For more details and advice, please contact Mark Townsend or Mark Gordon

The Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS) will support the creation of new woodlands, contributing towards the Scottish Government target of 18,000 hectares of new woodlands per year from 2024/25 the sustainable management of existing woodlands.

There are eight categories to claim under:

• Woodland creation – support new woodland.
• Agroforestry – creation of small scale woodlands to allow for an integrated approach between trees and sheep grazing.
• Woodland Improvement Grant – to support a range of activities in existing woodland incl. natural regen, forest plans, deer management plans.
• Sustainable Management of Forests – payments available for improving public access, woodland grazing, livestock exclusion, native woodland and animal control in existing woodlands.
• Tree Health - This option provides support to prevent the spread of Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum).
• Harvesting and Processing – supports investment into new equipment for small scale harvesting, specialist equipment for forest tree nurseries and support for mobile equipment to help business adapt after Covid-19.
• Forest Infrastructure – capital grant operations are available for the construction of new forest infrastructure for existing woodlands and sheep and trees.
• Forestry Co-operation - Grant support of £250 per day is available for up to 40 days, or up to 10 days for small-scale (<10ha) woodland creation schemes, to support the cost of a project co-ordinator for the feasibility and consolidation stages.

Please contact Andy Greathead

There are five options:

1. Planning

This covers Long Term Forest Plans, Forest Plan Renewal, Woodlands In and Around Towns (WIAT), Urban Woodland Management Plans, Woodland Grazing Plans, Deer Management Plans.

2. Habitats and Species 

This provides support for capital work that will benefit a range of priority habitats and species, as defined in the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and European Directives. It is aimed at improving the condition of native woodlands and restoring Plantations on Ancient Woodland sites to native woodland.

3. Restructuring Regeneration

This is for restocking and improving diversity in existing woodland.

4. Low Impact Silvicultural Systems (LISS)

This aims to facilitate the transformation of forest stands to low impact silvicultural systems (LISS). A low impact silvicultural system is a type of woodland management that helps to increase species and structural diversity. It normally causes less rapid change to the landscape and to the physical environment than clear felling systems and so can help the landowner meet multi-purpose objectives. In the context of climate change, varied silvicultural systems will increase the resilience of forests and may limit the damage caused by extreme events such as gales or pest outbreaks.

5. Woodlands In and Around Towns (WIAT)

This option aims to provide support for operations that will contribute to the sustainable management of urban woodlands and provide a range of public benefits. Urban woodlands are those located within one kilometre of settlements with a population of over 2,000 people. Grant support is provided for applications that can: 

• bring neglected woodlands into management.
• develop opportunities to use and enjoy existing and newly created woodlands.
• enhance woodland sites supported under previous programmes.

For information on grant payments, please visit:

https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/forestry-grant-scheme/

Sustainability underpins modern forestry. It means more than just replanting trees to replace those that we harvest. It also means thinking about the long-term impact of altering an area of forest and responsibly producing a valuable resource whilst preserving forests for future generations.

This option is designed to support a range of activities in existing forests and woodlands with a high environmental value. There are nine options in this category and each has a specific rate associated with it. For information on grant payments, please visit:

https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/forestry-grant-scheme/

This option provides support for new access infrastructure that will bring small scale, undermanaged woodlands or inaccessible woodlands back into active management with the following aims:

• to improve the economic value of forest and woodland through timber production.
• to increase the area of woodland in Scotland that is in sustainable management.
• to improve the environmental and social benefits of woodland. 

This option is limited to woodlands of up to 50 hectares in size. One off capital payments are available through this option to pay for operations associated with creating new forest infrastructure. For information on payments, please visit:

https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/forestry-grant-scheme/

This option supports the development of the small-scale premium softwood and hardwood harvesting and processing sector. It supports investment in new specialised equipment with the aim of:

• helping to bring woodlands into management.
• promoting the economic and sustainable production of timber and timber products through processing.
• adding value to local economies on a non-industrial scale.
• providing support to facilitate and support diversification and to assist with the creation of new small enterprises and related employment.

Grant support is based on actual cost with a maximum contribution of 40 per cent. In any single application, the minimum grant award will be £2,500 and the maximum will be £50,000.

The Scottish Tree health option provides support to prevent the spread of Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum). This option helps with the restoration of forests affected by P. ramorum by supporting the work to remove affected trees and carry out subsequent replanting. Grant support consists of a number of standard cost capital items. These are available for work to help prevent the spread of disease and restore affected woodlands. Your site must have a Statutory Plant Health Notice served on it that specifically requires the site to be cleared within a defined timescale.

There are nine grant support options for woodland creation, each with specific requirements for composition and stocking densities. These are:

• Conifer (predominantly Sitka spruce)
• Diverse conifer (species other than Sitka)
• Broadleaves (productive species at high stocking)
• Native Scots pine
• Native upland birch
• Native broadleaves
• Native low density
• Small or Farm woodland (mixed woodlands less than 10ha)
• Northern & Western Isles

For further information, please visit:

https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/forestry-grant-scheme/

Sheep and Trees is an initiative aimed at identifying and raising awareness of the many opportunities woodland can bring to farmers and land managers.

This initiative is not aimed at a target area but is available to upland livestock farmers where sheep are a major component and who will continue to farm. The new woodland must be between 10 hectares and 50 hectares of productive conifer woodland using the ‘Conifer’ or ‘Diverse Conifer’ options. This package is therefore limited to 50 hectares per application.

The Sheep and Trees grant package brings together two different elements of the Forestry Grant Scheme and so enables applications for both woodland creation and forest infrastructure. Planting woodland on eligible land will not impact the applicant’s Basic Payments.

Applicants will also be able to graze the new woodland once the trees are mature enough to avoid browsing damage.

The Small Woodlands Loan Scheme (SWLS) is aimed at small farmers, crofters and other small landowners to assist with the costs of implementing new Woodland Creation schemes.

The loan provides 50% of the value of the capital items for the Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS) contracts (not including The Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN) supplement values where this is present) that contain up to 50 hectares of woodland creation, rounded up to the nearest £100, up to a maximum value of £40,000 per application.

This loan is effectively an advance on your approved FGS woodland creation capital grant and repayment is netted off from your subsequent FGS grant payment when claimed.

Agroforestry is an integrated approach to land management where trees and agriculture co-exist to provide multiple benefits. This option is new to the Forestry Grant Scheme and provides grant support to help create small scale woodlands on sheep grazing pasture. The trees can:

• Provide shelter for livestock
• Provide timber
• Increase biodiversity
• Enhance the landscape
• Sequester carbon
• Reduce soil erosion and wind speed
• Mitigate flooding
• Improve soil infiltration rates
• Produce fruit or nuts to diversify farm income

The Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN) is a development within the National Planning Framework. It aims to restore and transform the landscape, whilst making a significant contribution to Scotland’s sustainable economic development.

If successful in applying for a woodland creation grant within the CSGN area, you could also receive an additional grant called the CSGN contribution. For further information, please visit:

https://www.ruralpayments.org/media/resources/fcs-csgn-factsheet-online.pdf

Please Contact Andy Greathead

In Wales, several woodland grants are available to support you. Here is a breakdown of the key grants:

The Woodland Creation Grant supports the creation or expansion of new woodlands. It covers costs for tree planting, fencing, and maintenance. Payment rates include:

• £3,302 per hectare for Native Biodiversity (1,100 trees/ha).
• £4,550 per hectare for Native Biodiversity (1,600 trees/ha).
• £5,146 per hectare for Enhanced Mixture (2,500 trees/ha).
• £6,170 per hectare for Native Carbon (2,500 trees/ha).
• £2,500 per hectare for upland Agroforestry (80 trees/ha).
• £2,000 per hectare for lowland Agroforestry (50 trees/ha).
• £4,000 per hectare for fruit and nut (800 trees/ ha).
• Fencing costs: £8.32/m for standard fencing and £11.93/m for deer fencing.

Maintenance payments: £400 in the first year, decreasing to £70 from year four onwards.

Premium payments: £350 per hectare annually (except for agroforestry). 

This grant is open to farmers, land managers, and landowners with a Woodland Creation Plan and is available until  21 November 2025.

The small grants environment scheme supports small-scale projects that enhance biodiversity and improve the environment. Further details are:

Purpose: to fund small-scale environmental projects, such as tree planting, habitat creation, and other activities that benefit biodiversity.

Funding: provides grants for a variety of activities, with specific funding amounts depending on the project.

Eligibility: open to farmers and land managers. Projects must demonstrate clear environmental benefits.

Application Process: applications are typically submitted through RPW Online Multiple rounds of funding are usually available throughout the year.

Current Status: multiple rounds throughout the year