The Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) provides support for the planning required to create woodlands in England which are compliant with the requirements and guidelines of the UK Forestry Standard. It provides funding to help an effective woodland design process, covering the collection and analysis of key information and its application in the design and initial management of the woodland. The WCPG is available to farmers with an interest in planting new woodland, to help cover the costs of producing an appropriate woodland creation design plan. WCPG contributes towards the costs of gathering and analysing the information land managers need to ensure their proposals for productive multi-purpose woodland take account of any impacts on: biodiversity, landscape, water, the historic environment and local stakeholders.
The fund would support costs reasonably incurred in the development of a woodland creation proposal such as surveys (such as habitat, peat depth, soil), planting options and landscape assessments undertaken to assess potential woodland creation sites. The maximum grant would be between £1,500 and £3,000 (inclusive of any irrecoverable VAT) depending on size of the woodland creation proposal
The Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) has been eased to encourage more tree planting, according to land specialists Strutt & Parker. The WCPG is available to farmers with an interest in planting new woodland, to help cover the costs of producing an appropriate woodland creation design plan. Landowners, land managers and public bodies can apply to the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) for support to create new woodland, including through natural colonisation, on areas as small as one hectare. You could receive over £10,000 per hectare to support your woodland creation scheme.
The land is eligible if it is:
- in England
- within the full management control of the applicant (or, where applicable, any counter-signatories)
- not already classified as woodland
- not subject to any existing legal requirement or obligation to create woodland
- not subject to a dispute between landlords and tenants
