Woodland Improvement Grant - Social Benefits

 

The BWW Woodland Improvement Grant is available to support a range of work designed to provide the public with greater social benefits from woodlands, for example, by providing better or improved woodland access, recreation and other facilities that will benefit the public. The spreadsheet at the foot of this page gives details of the percentage grant rates available for various activities.

Up to 75% grant is available towards the cost of carrying out woodland social benefits work for woodlands with a high level of permissive access, or for woodland situated in a Communities First area, providing a forest school or for social benefit work in woodlands that are part of community initiative.

Up to 50% grant is available for all social benefit work in woodlands with a low level of permissive access and for the provision of educational facilities (not forest schools).

Eligible social benefit activities that qualify for woodland improvement grant are as follows.

• Woodland health and safety management tasks including tree surveys and risk assessments.
• Providing facilities for informal recreation, for example, paths, bike trails, waymarks, leaflets, interpretation, parking, and other infrastructures such as toilets. When providing toilet facilities these must meet relevant standards and include the provision for disabled people.
• Making commercial woodland recreational facilities open to the public.
• Providing educational facilities.
• Amenity work such as; brashing, pruning, thinning around paths and picnic sites, and controlling or clearing fly tips.

Making a claim
All applications for BWW grants require the completion of a management plan and plan of operations which must be approved by the FCW and woodland owner before grant can be claimed and paid. The management plan identifies work that is grant aided and the year in which a claim must be made. You may only submit a claim for grant when the work is complete.  See BWW grant claim form below.

Funding from other sources
If you intend to obtain funds from other organisations or partners for your work proposals then you must tell us about this. We will need details about the role of your funding partner(s) will have in your project and the amount of funding or other help they will provide.

BWW WIG Social Benefits Grants Structure (MS Excel™ spreadsheet - 64k)

Better Woodlands for Wales - Grant Claim Form (Adobe Acrobat™ PDF - 109k)