Farmers and land managers in England can apply for a program to create new forests with the aim of tackling climate change.
The Forestry Commission has announced that £ 10million will be available in the third Woodland Carbon Guarantee auction.
Launched in November 2019, the Woodland Carbon Guarantee is a £ 50million scheme that aims to speed up the rate of forest planting and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
See also: Carbon farming: how to make money from new forests
It allows new tree planting projects registered with the Woodland Carbon Code to sell government verified Woodland carbon units for a guaranteed price set by reverse auction over 35 years.
The next online auction is scheduled to take place from October 26 to November 1 and applicants must register by October 11.
Before applying, participants will need to be registered with the Woodland Carbon Code, which provides the tools and information needed to plan forests and calculate how much carbon they will remove from the atmosphere.
Positive signs
The second auction, which closed in June, saw 27 contracts offered by the Forestry Commission – equivalent to 1,517 ha of new timber.
The outcome of the second auction, as well as the first, showed positive signs of projects in parts of the country such as the southwest and east, where tree planting has been lower in recent times. years.
The average price of the bids accepted in the second auction was £ 19.71 per unit of forest carbon.
Forests Minister Lord Goldsmith said: “I urge all land managers to consider planting roots and subscribing to the Forest Carbon Guarantee as we rebuild our country to ensure a greener and more resilient future. .
