Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier is open for applications

Grants are available for Woodland Improvement and Capital Items through Countryside Stewardship’s Higher Tier.

The Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier Manual 2018 has now been published on GOV.UK
 
Through Higher Tier you can apply for Woodland Improvement grant (WD2) for annual payments of £100 per year for work in woodland to improve its’ biodiversity and/or make it more resilient to climate change. You can also apply for a range of capital items, ranging from: forest roading (FY2) (40% of actual costs covered), stock and deer fencing, wildlife boxes, rhododendron and bracken control to leaky woody dams (80% of standard costs covered). A change this year means you can also now for wall top netting (BN13) on its own.
 
The application process has not changed but please note the important dates for 2018 below:

• 15 January - 9 March 2018 - window to request a Higher Tier application pack from Natural England’s Countryside Stewardship Delivery Services (formerly Technical Services), see Annex 9 of the Higher Tier Manual 2018
• 13 April 2018 - Deadline to submit your initial application
• Early June – You’ll know if your initial application was successful or not following our scoring of initial applications
• 31 August 2018 – We have completed any negotiations with you to create your final application
• Mid September – Confirmation letter and negotiation schedule issued to you
• 30 September 2018 – You confirm if you wish to proceed to formal offer and supply any outstanding evidence to Countryside Stewardship Delivery Services
• Early October – We score the final applications for woodland support
• October to November – Agreements offered to start 1 January 2019

Request your application pack as early as possible so that you have the maximum time to prepare your application. Submitting you initial application early will also help us prepare for the scoring of initial applications.

Read full e-alert here.