The current window of the Woodland Creation Planning Scheme opened on 28th February 2022. The scheme offers grants of between £1000 and £5000 to develop plans for new woodland creation.
After a plan is successfully verified by NRW it will be eligible for Welsh Government funding for tree planting. (There is currently an available budget of £500,000 for claims made by 31st March 2023)
More information here: https://gov.wales/woodland-creation-plan-scheme
The design of the scheme is based on the pilot which was run last year. The scheme will be open throughout the year (subject to budget) with applications selected every 6 weeks.
Funding for woodland creation will be available from August 2022, with windows opening every 3 months from then onwards (subject to budget).
After a plan is verified it will be eligible to apply for future Welsh Government funding for five years from the date of verification. The EOI must be for a woodland plan of at least 2 hectares. The Welsh Government is considering a simplified process for areas of woodland which are less than 2 ha, and there will be opportunities to apply for these projects later in 2022.
Farmers are not able to submit two EOIs for the same holding per calendar year, so applications should use all of the areas on the land which they wish to plant.
Registered woodland planners: https://gov.wales/glastir-woodland-planners-contact-details