Farmers and land managers are being encouraged to apply for funding to create new woodlands and secure income for carbon storage in them.
The Woodland Carbon Guarantee is a £50 million scheme that aims to help accelerate woodland planting rates and permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A total of £10 m is being made available for farmers and land managers to create new woodlands to help tackle the effects of climate change and provide new income in the form of long-term payments for the amount of carbon a new woodland will store.
Farmers can apply for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme by April 30 ahead of the seventh auction which will take place online between May 15-21.
Following an online auction process, successful bidders will be offered the option to sell woodland carbon in the form of Woodland Carbon Units - a financial value given to each tonne of carbon stored - to the government over 35 years at a guaranteed price that's protected against inflation.
Following customer feedback, the Forestry Commission have made some changes to the seventh auction which includes removal of project categories, making it easier for customers to access, and the publication of the reserve price (£30 per Woodland Carbon Unit) to give prospective applicants more confidence and clarity to apply.
Richard Stanford, chief executive of the Forestry Commission which is administering the scheme, said: “Now in its seventh round, it’s encouraging that the guarantee has continued to grow in its success, supporting the creation of 2,810 hectares of new woodland specifically to help combat the many and varied impacts of climate change by increasing tree-planting across the country.
“I strongly encourage farmers, foresters and land managers across England to submit their applications to the Guarantee ahead of the application deadline on April 30.”
Before applying for the Guarantee, land managers will need to have registered with the Woodland Carbon Code which provides the tools and information required to verify and record the carbon they are capturing and can sell in future.
Farmers can register with the Woodland Carbon Code at woodlandcarboncode.org.uk and can apply for the Woodland Carbon Guarantee at gov.uk/guidance/woodland-carbon-guarantee
This article originally appeared in our sister title, South West Farmer.
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