£1m extra cash to help crofters and farmers develop small-scale woodlands
Crofters and farmers in the far north may be able to tap into an additional fund being made available to help them manage small woodlands.
An additional £1 million has been allocated for forestry grants that aim to encourage more small-scale woodland creation projects of up to 20 hectares.
Support for these smaller woodland schemes, which are often delivered by farmers and crofters, is being raised by an average of 15 per cent across Scotland.
The increase in funding will help cover some of the inflationary pressures that the farming and crofting communities have been facing when growing new woodlands, according to the Scottish Government.
Agriculture minister Jim Fairlie announced the move at the Nature Friendly Farming Network summit.
He said: “Farmers and crofters have a very important part to play in helping raise our woodland creation goals in Scotland.
“This £1 million funding boost is designed to support our farming and crofting communities integrate trees into their business plans. Many were hit by inflation and saw material and labour costs rise so this extra help should ease some of that burden.
“I’m very pleased to see that extra funding will also go towards helping communities plan and kickstart the management of their own woodlands. These woodlands are hugely important to local people and can increase the environmental value to their surroundings.”
The new package of enhanced grants for small woodlands includes: an extra £750 per hectare for the first 20 hectares of new woodland across Scotland; an increase of up to £1750 per hectare in the Central Scotland Green Network area to encourage woodland creation near towns and cities; in the Northern and Western Isles, where deer management is a challenge, both deer fencing grants and stock fencing grants will be doubled; and up to £10,000 to help community-led woodland management schemes develop.
Woodland creation projects between 20 and 40 hectares will also see an average increase of around 5 er cent and for projects over 40 hectares, the rates are unchanged.
Scottish Forestry’s director of operational delivery Brendan Callaghan said; “We know that farmers and crofters have a great deal of interest in integrating trees into their businesses. In fact nearly half of all new woodland applications were from the crofting and agricultural community, but this tailed off due to rising costs of materials due to inflation.
“We have taken action to target more support to overcome this barrier and we hope that the increased funding will act as a catalyst for more smaller-scale planting in the future.”
Full details of the new enhanced grant rates can be found on the Scottish Forestry website.