Forestry Commission (Defra Trees Programme)

England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO)

The Forestry Commission's England Woodland Creation Offer pays landowners and land managers, including charities that own or manage land, to create new woodland of at least 1 hectare in England. It pays standard capital costs up to an average of £10,200 per hectare, £400 per hectare a year for 15 years for maintenance, and optional per-hectare additional contributions (up to £12,700 per hectare in total) for public benefits such as nature recovery, public access, flood and water quality. It is a competitive, technically demanding scheme: the woodland design must meet the UK Forestry Standard and be kept for 15 years.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £4,000 – £2,000,000; no fixed round
Deadline: Rolling; apply any time
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

All landowners, land managers and public bodies can apply, including owner occupiers, tenants and landlords (both must agree), licensors or licensees, and business partnerships; applicants can apply alone or jointly with a lead applicant
A charity or community organisation can apply if it owns or manages suitable land
The land must be entirely in England, under the applicant's management control for the full agreement (with written permission from the landowner or other counter-signatories if not), and at least 1 hectare of new woodland, made up of blocks of at least 0.1 hectare and at least 20 metres wide (10 metres for riparian buffers and shelterbelts)
Tenants need security of tenure for the whole agreement and the landlord's countersignature
Common land and shared grazing can be eligible
Applicants must register on the Rural Payments service (you do not need to be a business) and pass business and due diligence checks
The new woodland must be maintained for 15 years after the final capital payment

What it funds

Creation of new woodland (planting and/or natural colonisation) on eligible land in England:

Standard cost items and activities for establishing the woodland (capped at an average of £10,200 per hectare over the gross area)
An optional annual maintenance payment of £400 per hectare for 15 years
Actual costs of infrastructure (100% of recreational infrastructure such as all-ability paths, gates, benches, interpretation boards and small car parks where free public access is provided
40% of woodland management infrastructure such as tracks), each capped at 10% of total capital cost
One-off additional contributions per hectare for nature recovery (up to £3,300), recreational access (up to £3,700), riparian buffers (£2,500), flood risk management (£1,000), water quality (£500) and woodlands close to settlements (up to £600)
A £1,100 per hectare low sensitivity land payment where the whole proposal is in a low sensitivity area

What it will not fund

Historic and local environment record centre checks
Capital works started before the agreement starts
Capital works above the cap on capital items and activities
Planning application fees or other transactional fees
Agent or advisory fees, unless included in infrastructure quotes
Costs of meeting legal requirements, including planning conditions
Short rotation coppice, short rotation forestry or agroforestry
Christmas tree plantations or cricket bat willow
Planting on land considered to be existing woodland
Spruce within the Ips typographus demarcated area, or sweet chestnut within the sweet chestnut blight demarcated area (exceptions may apply)
Land that is developed or hard standing, in a dispute, already under a legal obligation to create woodland, or in an incompatible grant agreement with more than 6 months left

How to apply

Check you and your land are eligible using the EWCO guidance and the Forestry Commission map browser
Register yourself and your land parcels on the Rural Payments service to get a Single Business Identifier
Contact your local Forestry Commission Woodland Officer, who helps you prepare the application
Consult neighbours and interested parties, and request information from your Local Environment Record Centre and Historic Environment Record Centre (allow 28 days)
Plan a UK Forestry Standard compliant woodland (Woodland Creation Plan), prepare maps and get any consents in place; for 5 hectares or more you can first apply for a Woodland Creation Planning Grant
Download and complete the EWCO application and declaration forms, scoring your own application against the criteria
Email the complete application to EWCO@forestrycommission.gov.uk (add 'WCFT application' to the subject if eligible for the Woodland Creation Fast Track)
A Woodland Officer visits the site; the proposal goes on the public register for 21 days; if successful you receive an agreement offer to sign
Complete the capital works within 3 years and claim payments (claims of at least £5,000)

Apply by 31 May to secure an agreement in time for the next planting season; applications after October are unlikely to be ready for the upcoming season.

EWCO is competitive and applications must meet a scoring threshold. Work must not start before the agreement is in place.

Have ready

EWCO application form
EWCO declaration form (countersigned by landlord or tenant where relevant)
Woodland Creation Plan, unless you already have an approved Woodland Creation Planning Grant plan
Maps showing the proposed woodland and capital items
Evidence of your request to, and report from, the Local Environment Record Centre and the Historic Environment Record Centre
Evidence of any required consents and permissions (e.g. planning, SSSI, scheduled monument)
Quotes for infrastructure (one quote under £5,000, three over £5,000) with specifications
Evidence of nursery consultation / biosecure tree sourcing

Natural colonisation assessment, common land supplementary, agent authority and requirement exception forms are needed only where they apply.

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