Guidance

Grants for restocking trees

Updated 16 February 2024

This guidance was withdrawn on 4 March 2024

The tree health pilot (THP) scheme 2023 is now closed for new applications.

Read the latest information about applying to the current tree health pilot scheme which is open for applications.

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:

• grants for larch, spruce and sweet chestnut
• grants for ash with ash dieback

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.

If you are successful in applying for a restocking grant you will have 2 years from the date your agreement goes live to claim for your trees and restocking 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 the 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

You can apply for a grant to carry out mechanical mulching 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.

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 £350 per hectare of restocked woodland each year, for 5 years.

If you apply for a restocking grant for trees outside of woodland, 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 (trees outside of woodlands)	£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 (trees outside of woodlands)	£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 (trees outside of woodlands)	£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 or return to the THP scheme 2023 guidance.