Plant trees on your farm - Forest of Avon

Trees on Farms: Profitable by Nature

Are you a farmer in the West of England looking to improve your land’s productivity, resilience and biodiversity by planting more trees?

Our Trees for Climate grant offers fully-funded tree planting schemes tailored to your farm’s operational, business and ecological needs.

With our grant, you can get:

Funding for up to 100% of the cost of trees, planting and protection – and, in certain circumstances, basic, related site infrastructure.
Up to 15 years of tree maintenance payments and support.
Free, in-person site suitability assessment and online regulatory checks carried out by a dedicated Woodland Officer.
The design of a locally, ecologically and financially appropriate planting plan, intended to enhance and protect your land, and work with your business.
Expert guidance, advice and support from planning to planting.

Trees for Climate is part of DEFRA’s Nature for Climate programme, offering fully bespoke planting projects based on your individual needs. Our staff provide expert local knowledge from beginning to end, helping unlock the full potential trees can bring to your farm.

Want to know more? Watch our video to find out how we funded trees for business and nature at Manor Farm in the Mendips.

How can agroforestry benefit your farm?

Agroforestry is the deliberate integration of trees into farming systems — combining agriculture and forestry to benefit both. Adding trees to your farm can improve soil health, support water management and enhance biodiversity, all while maintaining or even increasing productivity.

Trees on farmland offer long-term benefits for both the environment and the farm business. These include:

Building resilience to climate extremes by improving soil structure, reducing erosion and enabling increased natural drainage.
Improving local biodiversity by providing habitat and food for pollinators and other beneficial wild species.
Improving animal welfare by offering shade and shelter, which can lead to better weight gain, reduced stress and lower mortality.
Reducing wind damage and improving soil health in arable systems, supporting more stable yields over time.

Beyond environmental benefits, trees can be used for a range of income diversification opportunities. These include the sale of timber, wood fuel, fruit, nuts and other non-timber forest products like mushrooms and honey. Trees can also support nature-based tourism and educational visits.

Increasingly, farmers are exploring access to carbon and biodiversity markets, where trees play a key role in delivering public goods and ecosystems services. In some circumstances, these can be effectively monetised.

What area does our grant cover?

We can fund projects over 0.1 hectares within the boundaries of Bristol, Bath and North-East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. For larger projects, we cover an additional area that includes the rest of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire. Our map shows the areas where we can fund tree planting.

What could your planting project look like?

We can support most configurations of tree planting with our Trees for Climate grant. These include designs for:

Silvo-arable systems where trees are grown between crop rows to improve microclimates and soil, and to sometimes provide additional crops.
Silvo-pastural systems which integrate trees and grass for grazing, browsing and shelter.
Riparian buffers of trees along watercourses which can protect valuable habitats, reduce runoff and form a barrier to livestock entering waterways, thereby potentially improving water quality.
Hedgerows and shelterbelts, which provide wind protection for crops and livestock, fodder and increased local biodiversity.
Coppice systems integrated with standard trees.

These systems are designed to work with your existing operations, helping you build a more resilient and diverse farm business.

Our expert team works with farmers at every stage to ensure tree planting can help to meet the farm’s objectives for productivity, diversification and environmental stewardship. We also deal with the paperwork around site surveys and checks, species selection and maintenance funding.