Intro
Our Services
Woodland Grants
Western Forest Project
FWAG SW is excited to announce the launch of our dedicated Tree Team, offering specialist advice and technical support to help farmers and landowners enhance and manage trees and woodlands across the region. Our team is here to assist with a range of tree-related projects, from woodland creation to agroforestry and veteran tree management.
Watch this short film where Tom Mansfield, Senior Woodland Adviser at FWAG SW, introduces the work of the Tree Team.
Scroll down the page to find out more about our services and current grants available for tree planting and management.
Our Services
We provide comprehensive services tailored to your needs and opportunities on your land, aligning them with available funding opportunities to maximize support for your projects:
- Woodland Creation
- Woodland creation plans
- Applications to the English Woodland Creation Offer
- Environmental impact assessments for afforestation
Planting, establishment and early management advice
- Woodland Management
- Writing management plans
- Applications to the woodland management plan grant
- Woodland condition assessments
- Felling and thinning licenses
- Deer and Grey squirrel management plans
- Applications for funding through Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship
- Providing ongoing support to implement woodland management.
Agroforestry
- Designing and implementing systems that integrate trees into farming operations
- Completion of PA4 Agroforestry Plans
- Applications to SFI/CS Higher Tier for agroforestry options and associated capital grants to implement your project
- Environmental impact assessments for afforestation and improvement to agricultural ground.
Hedges
- Hedgerow establishment, management and restoration advice
- Hedgerow condition assessments
- Applications to hedgerow capital grants
- Applications to SFI for hedgerow assessment, management and hedgerow tree management.
Orchards
- Planning and management for traditional and commercial orchards
- Assistance with Countryside Stewardship options like Orchard Management (BE4) and Orchard Restoration (BE7), with future integration into the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).
Veteran Trees
- Provide advice to Protection, management, and restoration
- Assistance with application to SFI/CSHT for veteran tree management options.
Events
- Knowledge Sharing – Organising and delivering in-person events, farm walks, and webinars to share best practices
- Practical Demonstrations – Hands-on sessions covering topics such as hedge management and restorative pruning
- Industry Engagement – Representing FWAG SW at partner events to promote tree-based solutions in farming. For example, we usually provide sessions at Groundswell and the Agroforestry Show.
Woodland Grants
England Woodland Creation Grant (EWCO)
Supports planting of new woodland on sites of 1 ha and above.
Provides up to £10,200 per hectare (ha) for planting, plus 15 years of maintenance payments at £400/ha/yr, and up to £12,700 of stackable payments for delivering extra benefits.
Area must be in England, not already classified as woodland and not within an existing grant agreement (with some exceptions).
More information here
Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG)
Grants available for planning the creation of 5 ha or more of woodland in England.
The grant has 2 stages:
You can apply for £1,500 to complete Stage 1 of the WCPG application. This is for a desk-based exercise to identify the constraints and opportunities affecting the proposed planting.
If the site has potential for woodland creation, you will be offered a Stage 2 payment. Stage 2 payments help cover the costs for preparing:
a site appraisal map
a design concept plan
a draft woodland creation design plan compliant with the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS)
More information here
Woodland Tree Health Grant
A 3 year grant to restock or improve woodland after tree health problems. There are two grants:
Restoration grant, which provides support for restocking woodland after felling due to a tree health issue.
Improvement grant, which provides support for the removal of trees and rhododendron infected with either Phytophthora ramorum, Phytophthora pluvialis or Phytophthora kernoviae.
Land must be over 0.5 ha and meet the definition of woodland.
More information here
Woodland Trust MOREWoods
Will cover up to 75% of costs of planting 500+ trees on at least 0.5 hectares, including trees and expert advice.
More information here
Woodland Trust MOREHedges
Will cover up to 75% of the cost for planting 100 metres or more of new hedging and allow a large tree to grow every six metres. Funding covers the trees, tree protection and expert advice.
More information here
Western Forest Project
FWAG has partnered with Western Forest to help plant 2,500 ha of new tree cover across Gloucestershire, North Somerset and the west of Wiltshire. Whether you’re interested in agroforestry or woodland creation, if you’re a landowner or farmer within the Western Forest priority area, you can receive free advice from one of our Tree Team specialists to take your tree planting project from initial plans all the way to getting trees in the ground.
Agroforestry offers a range of benefits to both arable and grazing systems. These include the obvious increase in shade and shelter for livestock and crops, as well as improvements to soil health, reduction in the spread of pests and diseases, and improve localised water quality. In addition to these increases in climate resilience, the trees can provide a second income stream by optimising land-use.
Read more about agroforestry here.
FWAG’s Tree Team can also offer expert advice for more traditional woodland creation projects. This guidance can be tailored toward productive woodland, or creating diverse habitats for wildlife.
What to expect:
- Free tailored support based on your farm businesses’ ambitions.
- Planting designed around local microclimate, soil types and land-use needs.
- Identifying suitable funding opportunities to support getting trees in the ground.
- Expert advice for species selection and planting approach to give trees the best start.
How to get involved:
If you’re interested in an agroforestry or woodland creation project, please check if you sit within one of Western Forest’s priority areas by following the link to their map here.
We will be prioritizing proposals that meet the following criteria:
- Agroforestry planting of 2 ha or more
- Woodland creation of 0.5 ha or more
- Planting of 20 ha or more outside of the priority areas will also be considered.
For more information please contact George at George.Brock@fwagsw.org.uk
You will find other useful information on our Resource Library page.