Tree Health Pilot
Forestry Commission
Award
£500 – £1.5m
Total fund Up to £30m
Deadline
Closes 31 March 2029
Where
England
North West, South East
Summary
The Tree Health Pilot (THP) scheme is testing different ways of slowing the spread of pests and diseases affecting trees in England. It expands on support available through the Countryside Stewardship Woodland Tree Health grant. The THP supports owners and managers of trees in woodland or trees outside woodland to deal with tree health issues. Funding from the pilot can go towards a range of measures including: felling and treating diseased or infested trees and necessary infrastructure improvements; restocking with new trees and capital items to assist this; maintenance of newly planted trees biosecurity items. he Tree Health Pilot guidance on GOV.UK sets out the aims of the pilot in detail including eligibility and application details.
Who can apply
General eligibility The THP scheme is open to people in certain regions of England who manage specific trees or woodlands infected by specific pests and diseases.To take part in the pilot scheme, the trees or woodlands you, or your group (if relevant), manage must have one or more of the following: larch trees with Phytophthora ramorum spruce with a statutory plant health notice (SPHN) for Ips typographus (eight-toothed spruce bark beetle) or that are growing in the proactive spruce removal area sweet chestnut trees with Phytophthora ramorum or sweet chestnut blight oak trees with oak processionary moth (OPM) in the established area ash trees with ash dieback The trees or woodlands must be in one of these regions of England (or include spruce with a SPHN for Ipstypographus): North West West Midlands South East London If you’re not sure which region your trees or woodlands are in, check the Area and Woodland Officer boundaries map or contact your area office .Each grant has specific eligibility requirements as outlined on GOV.UK here . General grant requirements Your grant application must have a minimum funding value of £500. Check your eligibility for each grant and the payment rates in the relevant guidance .Do not spend money on any pilot activities before you have signed a grant agreement. If you do the work before the agreement is signed, you will lose the opportunity to get a grant. If you already get other funding If you get funding from other agri-environment or woodland schemes, you can still take part in the THP scheme.The activities for the THP scheme must be different to the activities you’re getting funding for. You cannot get paid twice for the same work or activities.
Full details
Grant requirements for trees in woodland If you’re applying for trees in a woodland, the group of trees you’re applying for must: cover at least 0.5 hectares be at least 5 metres high, or will grow to this height have a crown cover of more than 20% of the ground area Grant requirements for trees outside woodland Trees outside of woodlands are any trees or small woods which cover an area of less than 0.5 hectares. For example, trees in hedgerows, along a road or in parks. Group grants for oak trees affected by Oak Processionary Moth (OPM) This grant supports a facilitator bringing together a group of people, to better understand the risks and hazards of oak processionary moth on their trees in the Established Area (see the map of the Established Area within London and the South East). The facilitator will get financial support and advice to create a group OPM management plan. The plan will set out site-specific actions for individual group members and also area-based actions for the whole group. If you would like to request a copy of the OPM management plan, email: thpilotenquiries@forestrycommission.gov.uk Groups will also be supported by the Forestry Commission-run OPM workshops. Group members can learn from specialists and ask questions about how to manage oak trees with OPM and the risks they pose. To apply for this grant you will need to: be part of a group make one group application have oak trees in the Established Area that may be affected by OPM You can apply for a grant to pay back the costs of: your time spent acting as a facilitator for the group (for example, forming the group, creating the group’s OPM management plan, organising tree surveying) hiring contractors to survey the group’s oak trees to identify OPM Grants for ash with ash dieback You can only apply for these grants as part of a group application. Grants apply to roadside ash with ash dieback in and outside of woodlands. There are no grants for felling ash with ash dieback. There are grants available to help with other costs associated with felling roadside ash, such as road closure costs. If you need to fell ash trees, you’ll need to get a felling licence, unless the Forestry Commission confirms the ash trees are dangerous and exempt. Read about managing ash trees affected by ash dieback. If you need to improve access to trees as you carry out work, you can apply for a road closure grant to pay for road closure costs. You’ll need to contact your local council to find out how road closures work and how much they cost in your area. Funding for ash trees in and outside of woodlands You can apply for grants to pay back the costs of: a European protected species site survey to plan how to fell and restock without causing harm or disturbing protected species (if you cannot avoid disturbing protected species, you’ll need a licence from Natural England) road closures while you fell your infected ash trees a facilitator’s time to manage a group application restocking and capital items to replace the trees with different tree species that are more likely to withstand pests, diseases and climate change, including items to protect them (for example, fencing and netting) maintenance, if you’ve applied for a restocking grant (this is paid at the end of your agreement year for 3 years, to help establish new trees) Grants for larch with Phytophthora ramorum You can apply as an individual or as a group for grants for larch trees with Phytophthora ramorum in woodlands (more than 0.5ha). If you own a group of larch trees (less than 0.5ha) infected with Phytophthora ramorum, you can apply as part of a group application. The total area of the larch trees in the group must be 0.5ha or larger. Grants for individuals will pay back the costs of: infrastructure and access aids to improve access to your woodlands - for example, a temporary road surface so you can remove felled trees felling, for infected larch trees where you cannot sell the timber or recover your costs from selling it (you can only apply for this either with an infrastructure and access aids grant or if your trees are over the age of 25, or both) chemically killing the infected larch trees, if advised by the Forestry Commission biosecurity items, to prevent the spread of pests and diseases rhododendron clearance You cannot get a restocking or capital items grant as part of an individual application for larch trees with Phytophthora ramorum in this pilot. You can apply for these grants through the Countryside Stewardship woodland tree health grant . Grants for groups will pay back the same costs as the grants for individuals and: felling, for infected larch trees where you cannot sell the timber or recover your costs from selling it (including for larch under the age of 25) restocking and capital items to replace the trees with different tree species that are more likely to withstand pests, diseases and climate change, including items to protect them (for example, fencing and netting) maintenance, if you’ve applied for a restocking grant. This is paid at the end of your agreement year for 3 years to help establish new trees facilitation fees, for someone to manage the application on behalf of the group Grants for spruce with or at risk of eight-toothed spruce bark beetle You can apply as an individual or a group for these grants. Grants apply to spruce with, or at risk of, eight-toothed spruce bark beetle in and outside of woodlands. To apply, you’ll either: already have an infestation of eight-toothed spruce bark beetle (you’ll have an SPHN which confirms this) own or manage spruce trees or woodlands in an area at risk of infestation, known as the ‘demarcated area’ (you can check if your trees or woodlands are located in the demarcated area ) You can get these grants to pay back the costs of: felling trees (if you cannot sell the timber or recover your costs if you can sell it) infrastructure and access aids to improve access to your trees, for example, a temporary road surface so you can remove felled trees restocking and capital items to replace the trees with different tree species that are more likely to withstand pests, diseases and climate change, including items to protect them (for example, fencing and netting) maintenance, if you’ve applied for a restocking grant. This is paid at the end of your agreement year for 3 years to help establish new trees facilitation fees, for someone to manage the application for your group Grants for sweet chestnut with Phytophthora ramorum or sweet chestnut blight You can apply as an individual or as a group for these grants. Grants apply to sweet chestnut trees with Phytophthora ramorum or sweet chestnut blight in and outside of woodlands. Sweet chestnut trees in woodlands Individual grants will pay back the costs of: felling trees (if you cannot sell the timber or recover your costs if you can sell it) chemical killing of trees with Phytophthora ramorum, if advised by the Forestry Commission infrastructure and access aids to improve access to your trees - for example, a temporary road surface so you can remove felled trees biosecurity items to prevent the spread of pests and diseases While you cannot get a restocking or capital items grant for individual applications as part of this pilot, you can apply for grants through the Countryside Stewardship woodland tree health grant . Group grants will pay for everything that individual grants cover and: restocking and capital items to replace the trees with different tree species that are more likely to withstand pests, diseases and climate change, including items to protect them (for example, fencing and netting) maintenance, if you’ve applied for a restocking grant (it’s paid at the end of your agreement year for 3 years to help establish new trees) Sweet chestnut trees outside of woodlands You can apply for individual or group grants to pay back the costs of: felling trees (if you cannot sell the timber or recover your costs if you can sell it) chemical killing of trees with Phytophthora ramorum, if advised by the Forestry Commission infrastructure and access aids, to improve access to your trees, for example a temporary road surface so you can remove felled trees biosecurity items, to prevent the spread of pests and diseases restocking and capital items to replace the trees with different species that are more likely to withstand pests, diseases and climate change, including items to protect them (for example, fencing and netting) maintenance, if you’ve applied for a restocking grant (it’s paid at the end of your agreement year for 3 years to help establish new trees) facilitation fees, for someone to manage a group application SPHN advice and support package for SPHN holders The Tree Health Pilot SPHN advice and support package is a fixed, standard cost package of £475.00. The Tree Health Pilot SPHN advice and support package includes: Funding for an agent consultation (x4 hours). The agent must meet the requirements as stipulated in the Tree Health Pilot scheme manual. Funding to complete a biosecurity management plan (included in cost of agent consultation) Biosecurity training (FC webinars) Funding to purchase a personal biosecurity kit, including the following items: Long-handled, stiff bristled brush Boot pick Container/bucket big enough to fit a boot in Cleankill (disinfectant) Water container (2-5 litres) FC signage for biosecurity