England Woodland Creation Offer

England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) supports the establishment of new woodlands and is administered by the Forestry Commission.

The ‘Find a grant’ tool requires a ‘closing date’ to be specified – 31 March 2027 reflects the period EWCO funding is currently confirmed until, rather than a known closure date. EWCO is funded through the Nature for Climate Fund.

- Funding organisation: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs - Forestry Commission - Nature for Climate Fund - Location: England - Award: £4,000 to £2 million per award; total scheme size £115 million - Opening date: 2021-06-01 - Closing date: 2027-04-01

Summary

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs - Forestry Commission - Nature for Climate Fund

You can apply to get money to help create new woodland through the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO).

You can get up to £10,200 per hectare to create the woodland. You could also get up to £12,700 in additional payments if your woodland contributes to the local community, nature recovery or the environment.

For more information, read the guidance on how EWCO works on GOV.UK.

You can access all EWCO-related guidance and forms on the GOV.UK EWCO collection page.

Eligibility

All landowners, land managers and public bodies can apply.

The land you own or manage must be:

- entirely within England - under your management control for the full duration of the agreement – if it’s not you’ll need to get written permission from any counter signatories, such as the landowner

You must create woodland that is:

- at least 1 hectare, which can be made up of several compartments (or blocks), each no smaller than 0.1 hectare - a minimum width of 20 metres wide – except for riparian buffers and shelterbelts, which can have a minimum width of 10 metres

Find out more about EWCO eligibility on the GOV.UK how EWCO works guidance.

Objectives

The main priorities for EWCO are:

- combating climate change by creating new woodlands that store carbon - contributing to nature recovery by creating new woodland habitat - improving water quality - reducing flood risk - providing climate change mitigation by cooling watercourses - creating woodlands that are close to people - increasing and improving recreational access in new woodland - encouraging ammonia capture to protect sensitive sites

EWCO is one of a suite of Forestry Commission initiatives to support woodland creation and tree planting across England. It gives greater recognition of the public benefits and ecosystem services provided by woodland (and the true costs of creating woodland) by providing additional incentives that encourage the provision of those benefits, in addition to supporting landowners with the capital costs of woodland creation.

Dates

You can apply at any time of the year. Applications can take between 3 and 5 months to process from the time of receiving a complete application.

To secure an agreement offer in time for the next planting season, you need to submit your application by 31 May.

How to apply

Read the guidance on applying for EWCO to understand what you need to include with your application.

Supporting information

You can access all EWCO-related guidance and forms on the GOV.UK EWCO collection page.

Apply / more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-the-england-woodland-creation-offer/guidance-on-how-to-apply-for-ewco