Forestry Commission
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A woodland management plan gives land managers a structured way to plan and organise the sustainable management of woodland to a common industry standard.
If youre intending to write a woodland management plan with grant funding, you need to have your grant agreement in place before you start work on your plan.
The UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) sets out the UK governments approach to sustainable forestry and woodland management, including standards and requirements, regulations and monitoring, and reporting. It applies to all woodland and woodland operations, regardless of who owns or manages it.
Why create a management plan?
- Creating a woodland management plan can demonstrate sustainable forest management and it supports the planning and implementation of work proposals and their long term monitoring.
- Some grant schemes ask land managers to have an approved management plan in place before making an application.
- The plan of operations, which makes up part of the management plan, allows land managers to plan for and be issued with a felling licence for up to 10 years.
If you want to create a woodland plan, you should include all woodland on your property.
How to produce your plan
For woodland up to 3 hectares use the small woodland plan template:
For woodland between 3 and 10 hectares, use either the small woodland plan template or the full woodland management plan template.
A grant is available to help fund the production of a woodland management plan for woodland over 3 hectares. Read more about the Countryside Stewardship option PA3.
If you wish to apply for the grant, you must use the full woodland management plan template:
If you do not intend to apply for the grant, use the small woodland plan template for woodlands up to 10 hectares. This still enables you to apply for a felling licence.
For woodland over 10 hectares, use the full woodland management plan template.
Non-Forestry Commission woodland plan templates
For non-Forestry Commission woodland plan templates that dont match our woodland plan template, use this . It explains the UKFS criteria being assessed and provides a consistent framework for us to review the plan.
Non-Forestry Commission woodland plan templates are not eligible for funding to prepare a woodland management plan through Countryside Stewardship.
Complete the inventory and plan of operations worksheet
For all woodland plan template types, complete the inventory and plan of operations worksheet. It sets out your woodland inventory and must relate directly to compartments and sub-compartments shown on your maps. The plan of operations also gathers information relating to felling and restocking and is necessary for issuing a felling licence.
There are 2 versions of this worksheet:
- : this highlights where data entry errors exist on the worksheets so you can make corrections
- : this lets you enter data more freely, it has no error checking so we may have to return it to you for corrections
You must use version 4 (V4) of the worksheet, older versions could be rejected.
Produce a map
Maps help to communicate information to support your management plan. Use several maps to show a variety of topics or themes affecting your woodland. You must ensure that each compartment you show on the map is reflected in the inventory of the plan of operations.
You can create a map by:
- submitting a map request
- using myForest service
- using your own Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Ensure you have the right to use any map submitted to us for commercial purposes. You can request a map from using our map request service.
Read our guide
Read our guidance on . This will help you complete a woodland management plan successfully using:
- our plan template
- the inventory and plan of operations worksheet
- your associated maps
Read this guidance thoroughly and refer to it regularly.
Countryside Stewardship (CS) Higher Tier
If you are drafting your plan for a Countryside Stewardship (CS) Higher Tier application, please refer to this . It tells you what should be included to ensure youre covering all relevant information in your plan. Your woodland management plan must support and validate your CS Higher Tier application.
Submit your draft woodland management plan
Submit your draft woodland management plan to the