Grants for restocking trees
Updated 27 November 2024
Applies to England
This grant is available to anyone wishing to restock their land with trees after felling them due to pest and diseases.
Eligibility for the restocking grant
Eligibility for this grant depends on:
- which tree pest or disease you or your group have
- whether you’re applying as an individual or on behalf of a group
Check your eligibility for the restocking grant for each species:
What the grant pays for
You can apply for a grant to pay towards the costs of:
- buying trees from a biosecure nursery
- capital items to support tree establishment – for example tree shelters
- mulching, to clear sites in preparation for planting
- annual maintenance, to support tree establishment
There are requirements you need to consider when restocking trees after a pest or disease outbreak. For more information, read the guidance about replacing trees after felling.
Read the guide to restocking your woodlands following removal of spruce in the Ips typographus demarcated area.
If you are successful in applying for a restocking grant you will have 21 months from the date your agreement goes live to complete any restocking. You will have a further 3 months from when the work is complete to claim for your capital items.
Buying trees when you restock
When you restock, you must use plant suppliers that meet the Plant Health Management Standard to be eligible for a restocking grant.
Tell the Forestry Commission which supplier you intend to use in your application.
The supplier must show that they meet the Plant Health Management Standard by providing either:
- the certification number showing their current membership of the Plant Healthy Certification scheme
- an application number to show they’ve applied to become certified members of the Plant Healthy Certification scheme
- a successful Ready to Plant (RtP) assessment voucher with a unique reference number
For the supplier to apply for an RtP assessment, you’ll need to provide them with your tree health pilot (THP) agreement reference number when you order your trees.
Each RtP assessment voucher applies to one THP grant agreement. If you have multiple agreements, your supplier will need to apply for a separate RtP voucher for each one.
You’ll need to provide evidence that your supplier meets the Plant Health Management Standard when you claim for your trees.
You may change which biosecure supplier you use later as long as the supplier meets the criteria. This will not affect your application.
Find out more about the biosecure procurement requirement.
Grant for mulching and rake and burn
You can apply for a grant to carry out mechanical mulching or rake and burn on felled woodland sites that you plan to restock, of up to £1,740 per hectare.
This will not affect how much you can spend on restocking capital items.
You can only apply for this grant if you’re buying trees from the capital item list.
You cannot apply if you have already claimed funding for the these activities under another grant.
Maintenance grant
This is to support the establishment and maintenance of any trees you plant under the THP scheme.
If you apply for a restocking grant in woodland, you’ll be eligible to claim £400 per hectare of restocked woodland each year, for 5 years.
If you apply for a restocking grant for trees outside woodland (TOW), you’ll be eligible to claim every year, for 3 years:
- £189 per large tree
- £0.14 per whip and feather
Read the guidance on replacing and maintaining new trees for more information.
Trees and capital items you can buy
You can use this grant to pay back what you spend on items from this list.
When applying for trees and capital items for planting on a woodland site, you’re subject to a per hectare cap. This depends on the type of trees you wish to plant and the land you’re planning to restock.
For woodland, the caps are:
- £4,720 per hectare for native tree species
- £3,850 per hectare for non-native tree species
For ancient woodland, the caps are:
- £6,000 per hectare for native tree species
- £3,000 per hectare for non-native tree species
The cap applies to all the land you or your group are planning to restock.
It also applies to all the capital items you, or your group, might buy except maintenance and mulching payments.
Grant payment rates: trees and capital items
Capital items | Payment rate | Aim | Additional notes | Mandatory or optional |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tree planting (woodland only) | £1.72 per tree | To supply, plant and weed young trees and protect with a 0.6m spiral guard | Spiral not needed in some circumstances – this needs to be agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Mandatory in order to apply for a THP restocking grant |
Tree planting - large trees (TOW) | £270.44 per tree | Supply containerised standard tree. Size: 10cm to 12cm up to 16cm to 18cm dependent on location. Supply standard lightweight galvanised mesh steel tree guard. Size: 1800mm x 360mm | Tree guard not needed in some circumstances – this needs to be agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Mandatory in order to apply for THP restocking grant |
Tree planting - feathers (TOW) | £3.79 per tree | Supply and plant small tree. Supply a 1.2m tube, treated softwood stake, and labour | Tree guard not needed in some circumstances – this needs to be agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Mandatory in order to apply for THP restocking grant |
Tree planting - whips (TOW) | £2.29 per tree | Supply and plant whip tree. Supply a 0.7m tree shelter, mulch and labour | Tree guard not needed in some circumstances – this needs to be agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Mandatory in order to apply for THP restocking grant |
Individual tree shelter | £2.43 per unit | To protect young trees with a tree shelter | This supplement can only be used with tree planting. Shelter height to be agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Optional |
Fencing | £6.34 per metre | Method of stock control, to help habitat management or protect environmental features | This item can be used with individual tree shelters where appropriate and agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Optional |
Sheep netting | £7.47 per metre | Exclude sheep to protect environmental features | This item can be used with individual tree shelters where appropriate and agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Optional |
Rabbit fencing supplement | £5.65 per metre | Supplement to fencing or sheep netting, or deer fence to exclude rabbits to help protect environmental features | This supplement can only be used alongside one of the following capital items: fencing, sheep netting, deer fencing. This item can be used with individual tree shelters where appropriate and agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Optional |
Fencing supplement – difficult site | £3.98 per metre | Supplement to fencing to cover the extra costs of fencing on a difficult site | Fencing to cover the extra costs of fencing on a difficult site. This can only be used alongside one of the following capital items: fencing, sheep netting, deer fencing. This item can be used with individual tree shelters where appropriate and agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Optional |
Permanent deer fencing | £10.27 per metre | To protect newly created woodland from deer browsing | This item can be used with individual tree shelter where agreed with your Forestry Commission woodland officer | Optional |
Temporary deer fencing | £8.09 per metre | To protect newly created or existing woodland from deer browsing as part of a wider woodland creation or woodland management project | When used in combination with permanent deer fencing, the temporary fencing must be deer proof | Optional |
Wooden field gate or wooden wings | £489.90 per gate | Facilitate stock management and keep livestock out of watercourses | When used with permanent deer fencing, the gate must be deer proof | Optional |
Badger gate | £61.81 per gate | Provide badgers unrestricted access either side of a newly erected fence, which crosses known badger routes | Can only be used with one of the following items: fencing, sheep netting, rabbit fencing, fencing difficult sites, deer fencing | Optional |
Water gates | £532.80 per gate | Use across stream in conjunction with other stock control options to keep livestock and deer out of new planting | Can only be used on fence lines across streams, with other stock or deer control items | Optional |
Deer pedestrian gate | £475.44 per gate | To install a deer proof pedestrian gate within the deer fence to allow access or enable woodland management | When used with permanent deer fencing, the pedestrian gate must be deer proof | Optional |
Deer vehicle gate | £749.63 per gate | To install a deer proof vehicle gate within the deer fence to allow access or enable woodland management | When used with permanent deer fencing, the vehicle gate must be deer proof | Optional |
Deer high seat | £265 per unit | To provide a safe, temporary vantage point from which to cull deer to relieve browsing pressure | Not applicable | Optional |
Stone wall restoration | £31.91 per metre | Rebuild stone walls to make them stock proof and restore their landscape value | Not applicable | Optional |
Top wiring – stone wall maintenance | £5.54 per metre | To control stock by adding a top wire onto a stone wall | Not applicable | Optional |
Stone wall supplement – stone from quarry | £164.50 per metre | To make sure that wall restoration can be finished where there’s not enough reusable stone on-farm, and stone has to be sourced from an off-site quarry | Not applicable | Optional |
Apply for this grant
Submit an expression of interest or return to the THP scheme guidance.
If you need more advice, contact a woodland officer at [email protected].