Woodland Planning Grant

Purpose

Woodland Planning Grant (WPG) contributes to the costs of producing management plans for existing woodlands that meet the planning requirements of the UK Woodland Assurance Standard.

Aims

• to help owners to realise their own objectives, and help them access England Rural Development Programme grants and other forms of support;
• to capture a sufficiently complete picture in order that all decisions about woodland operations are efficient based on good evidence and are sustainable;
• to realise opportunities for sustaining and securing more public benefit from existing woodlands;
• to support those woodland owners who choose to seek independent certification to the UK Woodland Assurance Standard;
• to provide a replacement planning process for those owners who have previously been receiving grant aid through Long Term forest Plans (this process is no longer available);
• to support those woodland owners who wish to supply timber to Government contracts under the new timber procurement policy (introduced in April 2009), through the Category B route;
• to support woodland owners who wish to seek funding, through the Wood Fuel Initiative, for the purchase of harvesting machinery or wood fired boilers.

Eligibility

• we must approve the application before you start to prepare the plan;
• only one Plan per property can be funded;
• you must include all the existing woodlands on a property, of any age. Your application will be ineligible if you fail to include all of your woodland in the application;
• if seeking funding for the purpose of supplying timber to a Government contract the total woodland area under the Plan must be at least three hectares and under 100 hectares.   For all other options the lower limit of three hectares remains, but there is no upper limit.  For owners with over 100 hectares of woodland, and who wish to supply timber to  a Government contract, the alternative option is certification;
• the final Plan must contain and clearly present all the information required by the Management Planning Template supplied by the Forestry Commission (see below);
• applications for felling and thinning work, as well as grant aided work identified in your approved plan, can be added to your WPG contract on request (and must be, if supplying a Government contract);
• the new Management Planning process will replace Long Term Forest Plans when existing contracts expire;
• you may show new planting proposals in a Plan but that area will not attract WPG.

Situations not eligible for Woodland Planning Grant

• WPG will not be payable where a management plan has already been funded and only minor changes are required to meet the current standard.
• WPG will not be payable where a property is currently, or has been, certified to the UKWA Standard.

The FC may, however, consider paying the grant at the normal five-year time of renewal of the certificate where the applicant is seeking re-certification and the existing Plan clearly fails to meet the requirements of the UKWA Standard.

Grant rates from 1st March 2009

Applications received after 1st March will be assigned a claim date of 2010/11 and these new rates will apply.

Rates are the same for all regions in England.

Documentation

If you need any of our publications in large print or in another language please contact The Diversity Team. Tel: 0131 314 6575, Email: diversity@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

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