UK grant · Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs / Forestry Commission – Defra Trees Programme
Trees, woodlands and forestry - Woodland Creation Planning Grant
£1,500 to £30,500 Closes 1 April 2030
Official listing and how to apply
Source: Find a Grant (GOV.UK) · Last checked
Key facts
| Funder | Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs / Forestry Commission – Defra Trees Programme |
|---|---|
| Amount per award | £1,500 to £30,500 |
| Total funding available | £708,607 |
| Opens | 1 December 2015 |
| Closes | 1 April 2030 (1238 days left) |
| Who can apply | Businesses, Public sector and councils, Individuals, Charities and non-profits |
| Applicant types listed | Personal / Individual; Public Sector; Non-profit; Private Sector |
| Nation or region | England, North East England, North West England, South East England, South West England, Midlands |
| Status | Open |
| Source | Find a Grant (GOV.UK) |
| Last checked | 10 November 2026 |
About this grant
Summary from the official listing on Find a Grant (GOV.UK):
You can apply for £1,500 to complete Stage 1 of the WCPG application. This is for a desk-based exercise to identify the constraints and opportunities affecting the proposed planting. If there’s potential for woodland creation to take place on the site, then you will be offered a stage 2 payment. At stage 2, you can get £150 per hectare, minus the £1,500 offered at stage 1, to complete stage 2 of the Woodland Creation Design Plan Template. You may get supplementary payments for specialist survey work if a need for them is identified at stage 1. If your application is under ten hectares in size, we will make a minimum payment of £500 for stage 2. The total amount of funding is capped at £30,500 per project. The funding will support you to gather and analyse the information that you need to make sure your proposal takes into account:
- biodiversity
- landscape
- water
- historic environment
- local stakeholders (to support your engagement with stakeholders, please share this letter to request stakeholder input with them when you contact them for information to explain how their response will be used)
You’ll have to develop a UK Forestry Standard-compliant plan for woodland creation that shows any constraints and opportunities, and how these are accounted for.If your land is already under an existing grant agreement, then your woodland creation design plan must cover the impact of tree planting on that agreement.
Eligibility
Landowners, land managers and public bodies (other than Forestry England) can apply to support the design of new woodland under the Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG), provided the work is not already required under existing obligations. Crown bodies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) are not eligible for funding through WCPG.You must plan to create woodland that is:
- located in England
- a minimum of 5 hectares or more in total size: if the proposed woodland is split into different blocks, each block must meet the definition of woodland set out by the National Forest Inventory: a minimum area of 0.5 hectares and a minimum width of 20 metres
If you intend to seek grant aid to plant the woodland, you should consider the minimum areas required to apply for grants for woodland creation when planning your proposal. Landscape-scale applications that span multiple land holdings may be accepted. You do not need to own or control the land, but you will need a letter confirming that the landowner(s) support the application. If your proposed site spans a border, we will only make a stage 2 payment of £150 per hectare on the land that is in England.You may include more than 20% of designed open space in your plan if the constraints of your site make this necessary, but the total stage 2 payment will be limited to the net planting area plus 20% (of the gross area). This means that any designed open space in your plan over and above 20% of the total project area will not receive funding.
If you’ve already applied for Countryside Stewardship, the Woodland Carbon Fund, the HS2 Woodland Fund, or submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) enquiry form to plant a new woodland, you are not eligible to apply for Woodland Creation Planning Grant on that site. Read more about WCPG eligbility.
Details are copied from the official source and can change. Check the official listing before you apply. Grant Writing Company is not affiliated with this funder.
Want an expert to write it with you?
Grant Writing Company researches funders, writes organisation proposals to each funder's instructions, and checks the package before you submit. experience since 2006. Funders decide every award.