Welsh govt announces £32m for farmers to plant trees

Planting trees on farmland is to be made easier in Wales with two new schemes with a combined value of £32m.

The first application windows for the new Small Grants Woodland Creation scheme and the Woodland Creation Grant opened on Tuesday 30 August after what the Welsh government described as a “short, intensive review” that looked at removing barriers to woodland creation.

It said the Small Grants Woodland Creation scheme simplifies funding for farmers and other land managers to plant small areas of trees on land that is less than 2ha and is agriculturally improved or of low environmental value.

See also: Farmers deterred from tree planting over planning battles

The Woodland Creation Grant offers funding for tree planting and fencing to farmers and land managers who have a government-approved woodland-creation plan, offering maintenance and premium payments too to ensure the trees establish.

For that scheme, a minimum area of 0.25ha is needed to qualify and there is no maximum limit.

Both schemes will provide grants towards tree planting, fencing and gates and 12 years of maintenance support.

There will be £2m available in the first application windows, which close on 14 October.

Planting and capital works will need to be completed and claimed by 31 March 2023.

The schemes will open for applications every three months.

To support the Woodland Creation Grant scheme, the government has introduced a Woodland Creation Planning Scheme to allow for community consultation before funding is allocated.

This will offer grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 to develop plans for new woodland creation and will be open year round.

Plans must be verified by Natural Resources Wales to make sure they meet the UK Forestry Standard and the scheme rules.

After a plan has been successfully verified, it will be eligible for the Woodland Creation Grant.

This funding will allow applicants to use a registered woodland planner to develop a woodland-creation plan, the government has said.

Announcing the new schemes, Wales minister for climate change Julie James said the ambition was to plant 86 million trees on 43,000ha of new woodland by the end of the decade.