Forestry grants

These schemes support woodland creation by farmers and land managers.

There are two types of grant available:

• Small Grants - Woodland Creation Scheme: for support to plant areas up to 2 hectares
• Woodland Creation Grants: for support to plant larger areas of woodland

The funding will help farmers get ready for the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme. Trees planted now will count towards the universal action for tree cover on farms.

Small Grants – Woodland Creation Scheme 

This scheme supports farmers and landowners to plant trees on land that is less than 2 hectares and: 

• agriculturally improved, or 
• of low environmental value.  

It provides financial support for:

• tree planting
• fencing,
• maintenance, and
• premium payments (compensation for loss of agricultural income).  

Woodland Creation Grant 

This scheme supports farmers and landowners to plant:

• larger areas of woodland over 2 Ha; and
• areas that are not suitable for the Small Grants Woodland Creation scheme.

It provides financial support for:

• tree planting
• fencing,
• maintenance, and
• premium payments (compensation for loss of agricultural income).  

Applicants must have a Woodland Creation Plan before an application can be made. Funding for a plan is available through the Woodland Creation Planning Scheme. 

The Woodland Creation Planning Scheme offers financial support for new woodland creation plans. The scheme:

• offers financial support of between £1,000 and £5,000
• enables the use of a registered woodland planner to develop a new woodland plan

The Woodland Investment Grant (TWIG) will provide financial support for people to: 

• create new woodlands 
• enhance and expand existing woodlands 

in accordance with the UKFS. 

These woodlands must have the potential to become part of the National Forest network in the future. 

In April 2023, we opened applications for the Coetiroedd Bach Grant. This grant will create 100 ‘Tiny Forests’ between April 2023 and the end of March 2025. This follows the successful delivery of the pilot scheme in 2020. 

This scheme will provide financial support for people to create tiny forests. These woodlands must have the potential to be part of the National Forest network in the future. This means woodlands that: 

• are well-managed 
• are accessible to people 
• give local communities the opportunity to get involved in woodlands and nature 

You can find details of application deadlines and key dates (on National Lottery Heritage Fund). 

The Expression of Interest (EOI) window for the 2^nd round of the Woodland Restoration Scheme (WRS) opened on 16 December 2022 and closed on 2 February 2023. 

The scheme offers financial support for capital works such as: 

• restocking, and 
• fencing 

You will need to submit: 

• a felling licence 
• a felling licence application number, or 
• a Statutory Plant Health Notice (SPHN) containing Larch 

with the EOI application. 

The NRW Woodland Programme will be assessing all WRS schemes (both PAWS and non PAWS) to ensure compliance with the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS). 

For this window, we have updated the mixed woodland categories. They now require a more diverse species mix. The maximum % of a single species has been reduced to 65% for Options W615, W618 and W619. This is important for helping forests develop resilience to future threats such as tree disease. The change is in line with the proposed updated content of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS). This is due to be published in spring 2023.