Reports & Research

5-year grant partnership to adapt more woodland

A new five-year partnership has been agreed between the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) and the Royal Scottish Forestry Society (RSFC), Trainhugger UK and GreenTheUK. It means £100,000s of new grant money is available to plant and adapt woodland to be resilient of climate change.

By Wendy Necar · December 1, 2022

Above: Duncan Winton successfully applied to restock his woodland in West Wales with a variety of species to make it more resilient to storms 

The Grants for Resilient Woodlands deal follows a pilot scheme which has already approved the planting of 108,000 trees, including 48 species of broadleaves and 16 species of conifers.

RFS Development Manager Jen Turner said: “We know our climate is changing and our woodland will have to change too to survive.

“Our pilot scheme was hugely successful.  As we go forward, we have made a few improvements. There is now no upper limit on the number of trees that can be planted and our on line application process has been simplified.

“ Forecasters predict extreme weather events will become more frequent in the future. We have therefore also strengthened the support we offer to woodland that has already been damaged by storms.

“We are immensely proud to be working with Trainhugger and GreenTheUK.”

The grants are available to RFS and RSFS Members for this planting season and beyond. They will help owners and managerusing species, management techniques and designs which make their woodland better able to withstand unpredictable weather patterns.

Schemes planting at least 200 trees will be considered. Application decisions will be notified within six weeks. Find all terms and conditions and apply here.

View a case study on Duncan Winton’s work to adapt Glandy Cross Wood following windthrow here.