England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) in Lancashire

Summary

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs - Forestry Commission - Nature for Climate Fund 

The England Woodland Creation Offer, or EWCO for short, is a financial incentive scheme for the planting and maintenance of new and extended areas of woodland across England. Our goal is to provide public benefits, contribute to our 2050 Net Zero target and to create new robust habitat for native flora and fauna in the face of contemporary environmental challenges and threats to biodiversity. Once an agreement is reached following the application process, recipients will be paid for completed tree planting, installation of additional features and infrastructure and yearly maintenance over the following decade.There are four types of payment available under EWCO:

Additional Contributions

Additional Contributions are optional and will be available where the woodland’s location and design will deliver public benefits. These are one-off payments that can be claimed once all the capital works are completed. Where appropriate, Additional Contributions can be combined so you can apply for multiple on the same land.

Additional Contributions include:

You can check the location of your proposed new woodland in relation to where woodland creation can deliver the benefits that justify Additional Contributions on the Forestry Commission map browser and Land Information Search.

Low sensitivity land payment

A payment to encourage EWCO applications on low sensitivity land, avoiding land most suitable for food production. When planting on low sensitivity land you can now receive an additional £1,100 per hectare.

Implementing the Biosecure Procurement Requirement Pilot

The pilot of our Biosecure Procurement Requirement means that applicants eligible for funding under EWCO (and other funds in the pilot), need to source their trees from suppliers who are either certified under the Plant Healthy Certification Scheme (or have applied to become certified) or who have passed a Ready to Plant assessment provided by Fera Science Ltd. This requirement helps to combat the threats posed by pests and diseases, as well as strengthening our biosecurity and serving our long-term vision for our trees and woodlands. Find information and support on how to comply in our guide: Biosecure Procurement Requirement Pilot for Plants and Trees.

Contact your Woodland Creation Officer

If you are considering making an application to EWCO, we recommend that you contact your local woodland creation team as early as possible. They can provide guidance and answer any initial questions about woodland creation. They can also provide further assistance if you choose to apply for a Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) to develop plans for your new woodland.

Contact your local woodland creation team.

Extra income from selling carbon

The EWCO application form gathers the information you need to register with the Woodland Carbon Code (WCC) if you want to access private funding for Woodland Carbon Units and apply to the Woodland Carbon Guarantee (WCaG).

The WCC is the quality assurance standard for woodland creation projects in the UK and generates independently verified Woodland Carbon Units. Projects must be registered with the WCC before they are planted.

The WCaG offers successful auction bidders the opportunity to access guaranteed government payments for Woodland Carbon Units captured by your project at an agreed price.

England Woodland Creation Offer transition into Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs)

We will take a phased approach to the transition of EWCO and Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) into the Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs), to ensure there’s no gap in offering grants to applicants for woodland creation.   

Future Countryside Stewardship (CS) woodland creation offers will largely mirror the EWCO offer to ensure fairness for current scheme participants and secure the benefits of this ground-breaking scheme.