Prospectus 2008
With the English Woodland Grant Scheme now being open for business we would like to communicate how we are going to target some of the agendas that we feel are particularly important within North West England - where the creation of new woodlands and the stewardship of existing woodlands can make a significant contribution. Within the flexibility of our national scheme rules we can look to support what we, as a sector, consider as particularly important areas of the Strategy for England’s Tree’s, Woods and Forests (ETWF) to the North West Of England. Within Prospectus 2008 we will be allocating the 6 Regional Points to Woodland Creation Grant applications which support one of 3 regionally important issues across the main themes within ETWF. In addition we will be allocating a percentage of our Woodland Regeneration Grant specifically for achieving transition of Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites to native species. With regard to Woodland Improvement Grants - linked to access, we are particularly keen to encourage schemes which have strong links to health outcomes, i.e. have connections to PCT’s or GP referral schemes. Woodland Creation Grant Communities and Places - New woodlands which will provide Access for Health and/or Education
NW England has significant health and education deprivation. We have actions within our Regional Forestry Framework aimed at helping to address these issues utilising a woodland setting. Our WCG can create new accessible woodlands as part of both health and education initiatives in the places most in need. The additional 6 points will support such schemes. The target area maps have been based on IMD 2007, using both urban and rural deprivation analyses. Land and Natural Environment - New Native Woodlands in Sensitive Water Catchments
Bassenthwaite Lake lies in the Lake District National Park and is of high conservation importance being designated as an NNR, SSSI and SAC. Of all the lakes in the Lake District Bassenthwaite has been identified as being at greatest threat. Part of this threat comes from sedimentation as caused by high levels of soil erosion within the catchment. The Forestry Commission recognises that woodland can have an important part to play in solving the sediment problem and is currently working with other agencies to maximise this beneficial role of woodlands within the catchment. GIS maps have been created which identify those areas of the catchment considered to be at moderate or high risk of erosion in the future or had already suffered high rates of erosion. These maps will be used to target support for new native woodland creation within the catchment where these are consistent with other objectives such as landscape, etc. - New Native Woodland Creation addressing Ancient Woodland Fragmentation
With woodland cover ranging from as little as 4% to 9% across the region, the N W is one of the least wooded areas in England. The Ancient Woodland component is a small fraction of this and in places greatly fragmented. New native woodland proposals within 30m of this existing Ancient Woodland resource will score an additional 6 points. We are particularly keen to see this focussed in areas across the region where clusters of individual Ancient woodlands occur. The 6 regional points will be allocated where all or more than 50% of the application area falls within the target areas explained above as identified on our target maps. Target Maps will be available on the Land Information Search (LIS) or on request from FC North West England. Woodland Regeneration Grant (WRG) We will be looking to ensure that WRG funds will be managed to ensure that no less than 30% of our allocation will be used specifically to support the transition of Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites to native species. The above targeting proposals are complimentary to our usual delivery through EWGS and allow a national grant framework to support regional priorities as well as those of national importance. We will review our targeting proposals annually to ensure it is effectively delivering regional priorities alongside national issues. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any points to raise regarding this approach. Any application enquiry can be made through our team of Woodland Officers.
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