The Woodland Carbon Code scheme for buyers and landowners
Find out about the scheme, how companies can use woodland carbon units and how landowners can take part.
Background
The Woodland Carbon Code (WCC) is the UK’s voluntary carbon standard for woodland creation projects. It is managed by Scottish Forestry on behalf of the Forestry Commission, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Forest Service.
The code gives applicants confidence about the carbon savings that woodland projects can achieve. It does this by providing:
- a high quality, robust voluntary carbon standard
- a transparent UK Woodland Carbon Registry
- robust science to predict and monitor carbon sequestration
- independent validation and verification of projects
This means that:
- carbon buyers have confidence that they have invested in a responsible scheme and can see the benefits that it will provide
- project developers have recognised procedures and standards for woodland management and carbon accounting
Information if you are buying carbon
Woodland Carbon Units from verified WCC projects can help your company compensate for its unavoidable emissions.
As well as removing carbon from the atmosphere, projects also provide benefits for water, biodiversity, communities and the economy.
Read WCC guidance on:
- what Woodland Carbon Units are
- why buy WCC-verified carbon units
- where to buy WCC-verified carbon units
- what other companies say
See the UK Government’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines, which set out how a company should report their greenhouse gas emissions.
Case studies
Read examples of buyers who have purchased Woodland Carbon Units.
Information if you’re a landowner
The WCC is the UK’s voluntary carbon standard for woodland creation projects. If you meet this standard, you can sell the carbon sequestered in your woodland in the form of Woodland Carbon Units.
See the steps involved if you are a landowner with a woodland creation project, including how to:
- find a project developer
- register your project
- get validated (have your project checked at the outset)
- stay verified (have your project checked to show progress)
The WCC and other grant and funding schemes
If you register with the WCC, you can still apply for Forestry Commission grant and funding schemes.
Find out about your eligibility for:
- England Woodland Creation Offer
- Countryside Stewardship: funding
- Woodland Creation Planning Grants
- HS2 Woodland Fund
The Woodland Carbon Guarantee
Once you have registered for the WCC, you can also apply for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee (WCaG). The WCaG is an incentive to plant trees in England to help remove carbon from the atmosphere. It gives you the option to sell Woodland Carbon Units to the government every 5 or 10 years up to 2055-56. The government will buy the Woodland Carbon Units for an agreed guaranteed price that is index-linked for the life of the contract. You can still choose to sell the carbon credits on the open market at any time.
Case studies
Read examples of WCC projects.
The UK Woodland Carbon Registry
The UK Land Carbon Registry holds details of WCC projects, and tracks the issuance, ownership and use of carbon credits. You can use it to look up a project or to see who has purchased carbon units from WCC projects.
Woodland Carbon Code contact details
Email enquiries: info@woodlandcarboncode.org.uk
Find regional and national contact details for the WCC team.
Last updated 3 February 2022 + show all updates
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