Great Northumberland Forest

• what to think about before starting to design a woodland
• what information to include in a woodland design and how to bring it together
• how to apply the UK Forest Standard design principles to guide and strengthen your proposal
• how to engage with other people in your project and making use of their responses to improve your plans
• the maps you will need to include
• how the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process works
• and, where to find further information.  

• New hedgerows
• Buffer zones
• Silvopasture and livestock

• Catchment woodlands: planting catchment woodlands can intercept, slow, store and filter water to reduce flood peaks and frequency.
• Cross-slope woodlands: cross-slope planting helps to intercept the flow of water, reducing rapid run-off and encouraging greater infiltration and storage of water in the soil.
• Floodplain woodlands: planting woodlands in floodplains can increase the capacity to store and slow floodwaters, ultimately reducing flood peaks.
• Riparian planting: planting trees either side of a watercourse can help to slow flood flows and reduce sediment and bankside erosion, as well as help fish have shade and oxygen to breathe.  
• Shelterbelt woodlands: Planting blocks of woodland on your land can reduce spray drift, and capture ammonia released from livestock units and/or pesticide run-off before they reach watercourses. Appropriate planting schemes can help with soil retention as well as provide shelter for livestock or crops.  

• Each block should be bigger than 0.5 ha (1.24 acres) to around 5 ha (just over 12 acres),
• Up to a maximum of 20 ha of these smaller blocks per estate,
• The blocks need to have been significantly affected by Storm Arwen - some evidence about the area and extent will be needed,
• The funding only works on places where replanting hasn't already happened.  It is OK if clearance of the storm damage has happened, but retrospective planting can't be funded.  Replanting can't be funded until a funding agreement is in place,
• The funding only covers the windblow damaged areas, and not where standing trees are part of a clearance operation,
• Applications to the fund are judged in terms of the restoration, enhancement, and value for money.  

• support for the capital items and activities to establish new woodland, at 100% of standard costs
• annual Maintenance Payments for ten years to help establish the young trees once the capital works are complete
• contributions towards the actual cost of installing infrastructure to provide recreational access or to enable the current or future management of the woodland
• optional Additional Contributions where the location of the woodland and its design will deliver public benefits. Land managers can apply for more than one additional contribution on the same land where it touches the right spatial layer and the design is compatible

• up to £8,500 per hectare for capital costs,
• up to £300 per hectare to maintain the young trees for up to 10 years, and
• support for the costs of installing infrastructure to manage the wooded area.
• ALSO there is up to £8,000 per hectare in recognition of the value the trees bring to the environment, nature recovery and the local community.  

• Any size and shape of tree proejct
• Pre-survey work for habitats, species or heritage. 

• Flexible - there is a choice of species and we follow the, "right tree, right place" advice
• New - this grant is for new planting, not restocking
• Advice - land managers can get free advice about existing woods and how to manage them
• Open - land managers will still be able to top up with green finance
• 100% - all of the planning, survey, tree delivery and tree protection / fencing costs can be funded (although there are no ongoing maintenance payments)
• Any design - there is no minimum density or targets

• MOREwoods - Where more than 500 trees are planted as woodland on at least half a hectare. Funding of up to 75% of costs is available
• Trees for you Farm - Plant 500+ trees to improve productivity and the environment on your farm. Funding of up to 100% of costs is available for agroforestry schemes benefiting the business of productive farms
• MOREhedges – Plant 100+ metres of new hedging allowing a large tree to grow every 6 metres. Funding of up to 75% of costs is available
• Free tree packs for schools and communities 

• WD6 Creation of wood pasture
• WD8 Creation of successional areas and scrub
• TE2 Planting standard parkland tree or TE1 Planting standard hedgerow tree
• BN11 Planting new hedges
• WD3 Woodland edges on arable land
• WD9 Livestock exclusion supplement - scrub and successional areas

• Promoting connectivity between habitats
• Action to reduce carbon emissions on a farm

Rushy Knowe is a 145 hectare new woodland in Kielder Forest. Forestry England saw the opportunity to use an area of upland hill grazing land and decided to take it back from agricultural use to create new forest. The aim was to create a modern, well-designed, and commercially sustainable area of multi-purpose forest, for the benefit of people, for nature and for the economy.
 

Watch the You Tube video about Rushy Knowe here (5 mins).

• A wood pasture case study at Middleton North farm.  The landowner here has planted new woodland and hedges and also 21 wood pasture cages each containing 6-7 species (one of which, like oak or lime, will eventually become a large, fully grown tree, with its canopy touching its neighbour!).  And a further 23 cages to be planted in the winter of 2022-23.
• A silvohorticultural case study just outside the Northumberland boundary at Gibside Community Farm (this link opens a 3 page pdf that shows the design of alley trees and shelterbelt, orchard / coppice and willow.
• Read a blog by LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) on the topic of trees on farms and agroforestry - to benefit the farm business, wildlife, community resilience and climate change resilience.  (The blog is on the Forestry Commission's website here).
• A silvopasture case study in the north of the county - more to follow!

• Newcastle University website where you can see the slides from the workshop
• Newcastle University press release Agroforestry Study
• Article in the NFU Magazine in September 2022 (this link takes you to the NFU website)

Farmers were mostly interested in planting trees as part of a livestock-tree system, which requires a more solid evidence base around the benefits trees can provide to improve livestock health.  For example through providing additional food resources as well as protection from extreme climates.

Additionally, cost-effective methods that need to be put in place to protect the growing trees from livestock as well as wildlife including deer and hares would need to be trialled and explained in training workshops or on specialised demonstration sites for tree restoration on farmed land.

Understanding what farmers need and want is an essential step towards creation of policies for increased tree numbers.  Agroforestry can be an integral part of integrated farm management, but the farming community is diverse and need flexible funding and tailored, accessible advice to encourage innovation. Based on their findings, the scientists recommend policy priority actions to increase the adoption of agroforestry:

The first step involves promoting knowledge of the different agroforestry types. The researchers recommend the creation of agroforestry demonstration farms and establishing a regional practitioner group to support farmers.

Second, is the need to integrate relevant government policies and increasing / maintaining funding for agroforestry as part of integrated farm management.

And third, to maximise the benefits of agroforestry, the researchers highlight the need for tailored and easily available advice for farmers using tools that build on current knowledge-exchange practices used by farmers.

• nearly 180 km of new hedges and 45 km hedgerow gapping
• over 96,000 individual trees (standard hedgerow trees or parkland trees for example), and
• nearly 352 hectares of woodland creation, including wood pasture, successional areas and scrub.  

• Approximately 10 sites at an early stage of the Woodland Creation Planning Grant, which may total over 1,800 hectares
• The new England Woodland Creation Offer it is hoped with plant the next phase of Shiel Dyke Wood, about 100 hectares, as well as a number of other new site enquiries / under consultation
• There are plans for approximately 80 hectares of woodland creation coming forward in the Countryside Stewardship scheme
• 400 ha being created through the Wilder Wallington project, plus 40 km of new hedgerows
• The Wildlife Trust will continue with the Wildwood project over the next two years, with around 30 hectares still to plant.  This is funded through the National Heritage Lottery Fund and is mostly planted by amazing volunteers
• Northumberland County Council's free tree scheme starts again in autumn 2021 as well as the Local Authority Treescapes Fund and also a "Platinum Grove" to be created as part of the Queen's Green Canopy
• Schemes in development by the Rivers Trusts, a possible total of a further 30 hectares
• The Woodland Trust expect to distribute around 17,000 trees and hedge plants every year in the county, through the MOREWoods, MOREHedges and the Trees for your Farm or Trees for Schools and Communities scheme
• Community projects, like the Cresswell Pele Orchard project
• Every year until 2030, Northumberland County Council are running the "free tree scheme" for local residents

• There is a Cumbria Coastal Commnity Forest annouced in November 2021 stretching for 56 miles down the Cumbrian coast,
• There is one for the Humber area,
• the White Rose in Lancashire.
• Also in the region is the Northern Forest. This joins Liverpool to Hull including the areas in between! Partners include the Mersey Forest, Manchester City of Trees, the White Rose Forest (in North and West Yorkshire), HEYWoods Iin the East Riding and Kingston upon Hull area) and the Woodland Trust. It was established in 2018.

• Any size and shape of tree proejct
• Pre-survey work for habitats, species or heritage. 

• Flexible - there is a choice of species and we follow the, "right tree, right place" advice
• New - this grant is for new planting, not restocking
• Advice - land managers can get free advice about existing woods and how to manage them
• Open - land managers will still be able to top up with green finance
• 100% - all of the planning, survey, tree delivery and tree protection / fencing costs can be funded (although there are no ongoing maintenance payments)
• Any design - there is no minimum density or targets

There are important considerations in deciding where to site and how to shape new woodlands. These incude impacts on the local community, archaeological or heritage features, landscapes, and impacts on protected habitats or species.  

These are best considered on a site-biy-site basis to make sure that any scheme meets the UK Forestry Standard.  

Whether the land is owned or tenanted is also an important aspect to consider, but again this is something that can only be done on site.  

Woodland design has changed a lot since the monocultures of the past.  

The impact on nearby breeding waders, on peat soils and hydrology, on heritage features and on landscape are elements which particularly need a site by site approach.  There is a guide to help land managers when peat, vegetation or bird surveys are needed.  Specialist surveys may be needed where these features are on or near a proposed tree planting site.  Download the 30 page pdf from the gov.uk website.  

Even species selection is important.  Rather than first selecting a species and then trying to alter the site to suit, there are tools now to help select the species that are most ecologically suited to particular sites.  The user only has to input a grid reference and soil type.  For example, view the Ecological Site Classification system here (new page).  

• Countryside Stewardship, including hedges, standards, edges on arable land, wood pasture and tree planting for nature
• The Woodland Carbon Fund and the Woodland Carbon Code schemes
• Northumberland Wildlife Trust with the Kielderhead Wildwood project
• The Woodland Trust's grant schemes (MOREWoods, MOREHedges, Trees for Schools & Communities and Trees for your Farm)
• Northumberland County Council through initiatives like the Urban Tree Challenge Fund, the Local Authority Tree Fund and the Free Tree Scheme (15,000 free saplings for local residents and community groups).  Find out more about this here and watch a YouTube video of Ovington community replacing ash trees in their village!  
• The three Rivers Trusts in the county, where the focus is particularly on tree establishment to improve water quality
• Trees planted as part of planning applications and development
• Private landowners self-funding small-scale tree planting