GovWire

Find out about the Woods into Management - Regional Woodland Restoration Innovation Funds and how you can compete for funding to help improve the ecological condition of existing woodlands.

Invitation to apply

There will be a number of funds based in regions around the country, details of each of the funds are available here:

• North West and West Midlands
• East of England and East Midlands
• Yorkshire and North East
• South West
• South East and London

Most of our woodlands have been managed in the past to provide timber and fuel. This management has shaped and maintained the habitats that support the plants and animals enjoyed and valued by society today. Presently around 41% of our woodlands are not actively managed and this can have a negative impact on the biodiversity they contain. Active management is needed to help woodland adapt to climate change and ensure carbon stocks are protected in the long term. As well as helping to mitigate climate change, well managed, accessible, woodlands provide benefits to the health and wellbeing of communities and improve the quality of water and air.

The aim of the Woods into Management (WiM) Forestry Innovation Funds, as part of governments Nature for Climate Fund, is to encourage and broaden innovation in forestry. Through the Regional Woodland Restoration Innovation Funds, the Forestry Commission are looking to support proposals that will bring increased areas of woodland into active management and improve their ecological condition. In 2023, up to 1.7million will be made available through the Woods into Management Forestry Innovation Funds to support innovative project work.

The threats faced by our woodlands and the biodiversity they support are numerous and varied. They include a lack of adaptation and mitigation to climate change, diseases such as ash dieback and Phytophthora ramorum, insect pests, over grazing by deer and ring barking by grey squirrels. In addition, in many parts of the country there are opportunities to restore conifer and hardwood plantations on ancient woodland sites and to improve the condition of woodland SSSIs. The extent of these threats and opportunities varies across the country.

To reflect this variation, five Regional Woodland Restoration Innovation Funds have been developed through collaboration with the regional Forest and Woodland Advisory Committees to identify priority areas for activity across the regions. The funds are open to a range of organisations including (but not limited to) forestry businesses, woodland management companies, conservation groups and membership organisations and consortiums in a position to accelerate the restoration and improvement of woodlands. We welcome bids that demonstrate collaborative working amongst businesses, private and public woodland owners. We would also encourage bids from membership organisations and Local Authorities to support projects that will bring more woods into active management through engagement with members and local community groups. We are particularly interested in proposals that can demonstrate scalability and would encourage applicants to explore how their ideas could be rolled out at a regional or national level to maximise impact.

Urban forestry projects are eligible for funding and might explore how benefits including recreation, education, biodiversity, and new timber markets have potential to incentivise woodland management practices and improve ecological condition. Projects may incorporate an element of original research but must include significant practical application.

Applicants should ensure that proposals conform to the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS). Where appropriate, we will work with applicants to target and develop new ways of writing and approving UKFS compliant management plans. Where possible, organisations including the Small Woods Association, the Woodland Trust and the Forestry Commission will share information on woodland ownership and type together with lessons learned from previous woodland management initiatives.

Further details on each of the five regional innovation funds can be found below.

About the North West and West Midlands Innovation Fund

There are 226,000ha of woodland in the West Midlands and North West. The Forest and Woodland Advisory Committees of the North West and West Midlands have identified the following barriers to increasing woodland management:

• an absence of easy first steps for owners to understand their woodland and its values (value = social, environmental, tax, timber income), implement management and operational plans designed to improve habitat condition and resilience to climate change. Many owners are not foresters and may not be inclined to engage with either the Forestry Commission or traditional forestry businesses
• fragmented ownership of woodlands. Many woodlands are small, and it is not always viable to actively manage these woods in isolation
• an absence of skills and awareness, site specific information on woodland condition, woodland inventory and the value of standing timber makes it difficult for some owners to identify management objectives for their woodlands
• tree heath issues and catastrophic windblow events. Woods heavily damaged by tree pests and diseases such as ash dieback and windblow events such as Storm Arwen make woodland management challenging and viewed as unviable by landowners
• lack of routes to market for woodland management products

We encourage applications for projects that result in:

• more woodlands with long term, UKFS compliant, woodland management plans, and associated activity focused on habitat improvement and maintenance and security of carbon stocks
• a conveyor belt of new felling licence applications and applications to Countryside Stewardship
• restored Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites and appropriate improvements to the conservation status of woodland SSSIs
• more resilient woodlands containing suitable species and provenances tolerant to climate change, ensuring long term carbon sequestration potential is maintained or improved
• demystifying woodland management to non-expert owners
• new incomes streams to help owners maintain and improve woodlands in the long term
• the creation of new woodland management partnerships
• market pull for locally sourced timber products
• restoration of temperate rainforests along Englands Atlantic fringe
• greater resilience against extreme weather events such as windblow

About the South East and London Innovation Fund

There are 325,000ha of woodland in the South East (SE) & London. 43% is ancient woodland, including traditional systems such as coppice and coppice with standards.

There are thousands of woodland owners across the SE & London, from a wide variety of backgrounds and with varied understanding of sustainable management. Lots of the woodlands are fragmented in the landscape, with some woodlands subdivided into multiple ownership.

According to official figures, only around half of the woodlands in the South East are in active management and evidence shows that lack of management results in a loss of benefits including biodiversity. A lack of woodland management has been a long-standing issue, so we are seeking innovative ways that create a step change.

Barriers to Woodland Management in SE England

The Forest and Woodland Advisory Committees of the South East and London have identified the following barriers to increasing woodland management:

• fragmented ownership of woodlands. Many woodlands are small, and it is not always viable to actively manage these woods in isolation
• a lack of knowledge about the ownership and management of woodlands that the Forestry Commission is not in contact with
• a lack of easy guidance and support that takes inexperienced woodland owners on a journey from awareness of woodland management benefits to delivering operations within a UKFS compliant management plan
• an absence of skills and awareness, site specific information on woodland condition, woodland inventory and the value of standing timber makes it difficult for some owners to identify management objectives for their woodlands
• tree health issues, in particular ash dieback, which can make woodland management challenging and viewed as unviable by landowners
• control of deer and grey squirrel populations to allow natural regeneration, and to protect woodland habitats and biodiversity

We encourage applications for projects that result in:

• more woodlands with long term, UK Forestry Standard compliant, woodland management plans, and associated activity focused on habitat improvement and maintenance and security of carbon stocks
• a
  

  View the original news story