There are a few ways to secure funding for planting trees, details on all government-supported schemes are here. It is possible to secure carbon funding as well, but this really only works for larger schemes and can be restrictive for future management decisions. It was not of any benefit to our scheme, so I wont go into detail.
the first grant scheme is administered directly by the Forestry Commission and is called the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) – guidance here on eligibility, how the scheme works and what advice is available to support people interested in the scheme. Grant rates are (in my opinion) generous and include:
- covering standard capital costs,
- 15 years of maintenance,
- costs to support infrastructure,
- additional contributions of the scheme specifically designed to deliver public benefits, such as nature recovery or water management.
However, costs need to be paid up front and claimed back, so we didn’t opt for it.
It is also possible to get funding support through Community Forests and the National Forest Company, which are all funded by DEFRA. These are all individual and depend on area, as they are regional. An overview and contact details are here. None of these cover our area, so weren’t considered.
We secured funding through a charity, Severn Rivers Trust, which has government funding from a different source, but the same big pot (Nature for Climate fund -DEFRA). This meant we had to pay no upfront costs and, although the funding is not as much as EWCO, we didn’t have to put up any money up front. We qualified because we are in a set catchment (proximity to the River Severn catchment).
Summary (and personal opinion):
EWCO offers the most generous funding and the greatest flexibility, so you can decide what you want your woodland to deliver and design a scheme to fit this, but you need to pay all initial costs and then claim them back. If we had the money, I would have chosen this.
Struan's Wood 