Grants offered to boost level of woodland cover in Peaks

LANDOWNERS in the Peak District are being offered grants by the Forestry Commission as part of a drive to boost the amount of woodland in the area.

Woodland cover in Derbyshire is 7.4 per cent, behind the national average of 8.4 per cent and much lower than the European average of 32 per cent. Foresters now want to redress this balance by offering cash incentives to encourage landowners to plant trees.

Neil Riddle, grants regulation manager for the Forestry Commission, said: “We are on a mission to increase the level of tree cover in the East Midlands, which is one of the lowest in England.

“For centuries we have seen the continual removal of trees and only in this generation have we begun to replace them.

“Trees contribute to a healthy landscape, absorb carbon and so help to mitigate our contribution to climate change.

“They are of huge benefit, both to us and to wildlife.”

Landowners can receive 1,800 per hectare as a standard grant to create a new woodland, as well as additional grants for a further 15 years to keep livestock off the allocated land.

Improving the habitat for woodland birds, meanwhile, could attract a further 2,000 per hectare in grant money.

Mr Riddle added: “Many landowners already help the wider environment by managing their woodlands and by working with us to create new woodland, but there may be others who have not considered this option.

“We would like anyone in the region who has land they would like to turn into woodland to contact us.”

The closing date for applications for Woodland Creation Grants is September 30 this year. For details contact the Forestry Commission on 01623 821474.