UK should guarantee and reform grants for farmers for tree planting after Brexit

Trees are vital national assets. Our forests are rich habitats, supporting diverse wildlife and plants. In the uplands, trees help to improve soil and water quality, slow water flows and mitigate the impact of flooding. Downstream, in cities and towns, they help to absorb harmful air pollution, protecting public health. Trees are an important economic resource in the tourism, leisure, and timber industries. They also act as a store of carbon dioxide, contributing to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change.  

 
Yet despite these manifest benefits, England has one of the lowest levels of forest coverage in the Europe. Just 10% of its land surface is covered with trees, compared to an EU average of 38%. In the recent election, the Conservative’s pledged to plant 30 million trees a year.

 
Previously, The Government’s main policy for incentivising tree planting, the Countryside Stewardship scheme which was part of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), had very low uptake in its first year, and was criticised for its restrictive one-month application window, its poorly designed financial incentives, and its slow decision-making process. As a result of our departure from the EU, and subsequently from CAP, the future of grants for tree planting is now uncertain. However, an opportunity to secure grants for afforestation on farm land exists in the form of the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme.

 
We are calling on the Government to commit to providing grants for tree planting to farmers after the UK fully leaves the EU, as a priority for its new ELM scheme, which is due to be fully rolled out by 2024. Grants should be focused on woodland that delivers multiple public benefits: materials for housebuilding, carbon sequestration, wildlife conservation, and natural flood management. By replacing CAP, there is an opportunity to address the administrative deficiencies of the past in an ELM scheme by ensuring the application window is extended to make it open all year round, ensuring farmers are eligible to collect other grants alongside those for tree planting, and introducing a maximum waiting time for the decision about the grant to be made. 

Bright Blue's campaign to guarantee and reform tree planting grants after Brexit has been supported by the following organisations:

Bright Blue is an independent, think tank for liberal conservatism. Partner organisations do not necessarily endorse other Bright Blue policies.

Bright Blue is still seeking support for its latest campaign on tree planting. If an organisation would like to add their voice to our campaign, please email Patrick Hall (patrick@brightblue.org.uk) for further details.