A £10m fund has become available for farmers and land managers to create new woodlands to help tackle the effects of climate change.
The figure will be available in the second auction of the Woodland Carbon Guarantee £50m pot, the Forestry Commission said today (14 April).
The scheme gives farmers the option to sell Woodland Carbon Units to the government at a guaranteed price which is protected against inflation.
Land managers across England are encouraged to sign up to the scheme by 5 June, ahead of the next auction which will take place online from 8 to 19 June.
Launched in November 2019, the Woodland Carbon Guarantee aims to help accelerate planting rates and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This announcement follows the first auction which closed in February 2020 and saw 18 contracts offered to help stimulate the creation of 182ha of new woodland.
Sir William Worsley, Chair of the Forestry Commission, said: “I’m excited to announce that the first auction has successfully encouraged projects in parts of the country where new planting has been lower in recent years, and across a good range of woodland types.
“There is no reason to delay applying and to plant trees now - I strongly encourage all land managers thinking about planting to sign up ahead of the second auction in June.”
The outcome of the first exploratory auction in February paves the way for larger scale projects to secure funding in forthcoming auctions. A series of auctions will take place every six months for up to five years.
All application forms including the auction process are completed online.
